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Coalition slips four points behind Labor while Greens surge in latest poll Coalition slips four points behind Labor while Greens surge in latest poll
(about 2 hours later)
Record support for the Greens and a slump in regional support for the government are being blamed for the Coalition trailing Labor in the latest Fairfax Nielsen poll. The Greens have soared to their highest ever primary vote as disenchanted voters move away from the major parties, according to a Fairfax Nielson poll.
The Coalition lags Labor by four percentage points on a two-party-preferred basis, 48% to 52%, with the Greens primary vote rising to a highest ever share of 17%, according to the survey. Tony Abbott has returned from a trip to Asia, in which he reached a free-trade agreement with Japan and signed one with South Korea, to polls that have the government trailing Labor on a two-party preferred basis and nosediving in regional areas, according to Fairfax Media.
The Greens result is almost double the support they achieved at the election in September. Labor leads the Coalition 52% to 48% on two-party preferred, bolstered by the preferences of the Greens who have recorded a 17% primary vote overall and 27% in Western Australia, the telephone poll of 1400 voters showed.
The April poll shows the government is paying for allowing controversies to override key policies such as repealing the carbon and mining taxes and its budget preparations. The Coalition is bleeding support in regional areas, falling eight percentage points to 42%. In capital cities support dropped one percentage point.
The restoration of the royal titles of knight and dame, the furore surrounding the assistant treasurer, Arthur Sinodinos, who has stood down, and divisive efforts to weaken anti-racial discrimination laws are thought to have all played a role in the result. The government has had a difficult couple of months with issues such as the repeal of 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act dominating the agenda along with the return of knight and dames in Australia, which the prime minister announced without consulting his party room.
The nationwide telephone poll of 1400 voters was taken between Thursday last week and Saturday. The poll showed nine out of 10 Australians believed it should be unlawful to offend, insult or humiliate based on race and ethnicity, though respondents were not asked if they thought the wording of the act should be amended, as the government plans.
Six out of 10 people disagreed with the attorney general, George Brandis, when he told the Senate that people had a right to be bigots and only a third supported the return of knight and dame titles in Australia.
The government has also been preparing voters for a tough budget with a raising of the pension age to 70 being canvassed.