Tanya Plibersek dismisses poll concerns amid Coalition’s 51-49 Newspoll lead over Labor

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s claim that he has never lost a Newspoll has been put to bed, with the Coalition taking the lead on a two-party-preferred basis for the first time since Labor came to power.

His own approval ratings have also fallen to a new low, according to the poll published in The Australian on Monday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tanya Plibersek and Barnaby Joyce go head-to-head on Sunrise.

The Coalition is leading Labor 51-49, eight months out from the next election.

The lead has been generated by a shift in preferences from minor parties, however, with the primary vote support for the Coalition and Labor remaining unchanged from the previous poll in September.

However, when pressed by Sunrise host Nat Barr, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek batted off the devastating numbers.

“Tanya, don’t say you don’t listen to the polls. I know you guys all do your own polling. What do you think about this morning?,” Barr said.

“We’re not focused on the polls. What we’re focused on is the cost of living for ordinary Australians,” Plibersek replied.

When pressed several times whether the poll was a concern for the government Plibersek refused to concede that it was.

“We’re focused, we’re doing the right thing. It is a very close poll,” she said.

But Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said it was misleading to suggest the parties did not pay heed to the polls.

“Tanya watches the polls, I watch the polls,” he said.

“If you say you don’t, people say, ‘you’re not being straight with me’. The bigger issue is the trend, the trend’s been down all the way along.”

Albanese’s approval ratings fell to the lowest level since becoming prime minister, suffering a three-point fall in his satisfaction rating to 40 per cent and a three-point rise in dissatisfaction to 54 per cent.

His net negative approval ratings also dropped to minus 14, a point lower than his previous worst.

The two party leaders are equal in their overall approval ratings, but Albanese’s disapproval rating is higher than Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s — 54 per cent to his 52 per cent.

Joyce said although there had only been a one-term government once in Australia’s history (the Labor government led by James Scullin from 1929-1932), the polling trend did not bode well.

“I reckon Albanese is giving this a red-hot go to be a one-term government. He has lost connection with the people,” he said.

But despite the positive trend for the opposition Joyce said he did not expect they could win a majority at next year’s election.

“I think hung parliament is the number one horse in this race at the moment,” he said.

In the head-to-head contest over who would make a better prime minister, Dutton remained on 37 per cent, but Albanese retained his lead at 45 per cent, despite losing a point.

The Newspoll will set the tone for a busy week in parliament where politics has been dominated in recent times by tensions in the Middle East and Australia’s perceived response.

There has been little time devoted to domestic policy or the cost-of-living crisis.

- With Chris Hook