A new poll shows a 3% drop in the Greens’ primary vote, while another has Josh Frydenberg ahead of Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton as preferred Liberal leader.
This year’s federal election will have many strands that influence it, including the ‘freedom’ protest movement and its interaction with right-wing populist politics.
Latest polling shows a dramatic slump in voters’ views of the Morrison government, and with an election likely in May, the question now is whether that will change in the coming months.
Given the effort politicians and their advisers commit to directing public funds to marginal electorates, an observer would think the returns would be substantial.
Whether it’s been the vaccine rollout, a federal ICAC, political scandals or the treatment of women, the Morrison government has had a shocking year. But will it pay for it in 2022?
The Coalition has made promises on whistleblower protection and must soon reveal its plan for a federal integrity commission. Now is the time for both parties to prove they can take real action.
The theatre of politics is neither a substitute for, nor the antithesis of, good policy: it is what makes winning government, and getting to implement good policy, possible.
Since the French president accused the prime minister of lying, his trustworthiness has been increasingly under the media spotlight. If the tag sticks, it could wound him at next year’s poll.