BludgerTrack: 51.6-48.4 to Labor

Tony Abbott overtakes Bill Shorten on net approval in an otherwise uninteresting week in the world of poll aggregation.

Three new polls this week, from Newspoll, Morgan and Essential Research, have made as little difference to the BludgerTrack poll aggregate as one poll did last week, although Labor does at least make a gain on the seat projection in New South Wales. Things are a little more interesting on the leadership ratings, thanks to a new set of numbers from Newspoll (which has only one more poll to go in its present form, not two as I intimated in the previous post). This finds Tony Abbott overtaking Bill Shorten on net approval to add to the preferred prime minister lead he opened up a few weeks ago, and which he continues to consolidate. The improvement in Abbott’s standing since the nadir of the Prince Philip knighthood has been quite remarkable, although his net rating of minus 11.8% is by no means anything to write home about.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

3,572 comments on “BludgerTrack: 51.6-48.4 to Labor”

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  1. With Abbott leading in the personal polls I’m wonder if it’s because he’s everyone’s favourite comedian. Not since the heights of Adam Sandler’s career have we seen such spectacular buffoonery. Either that or it’s a load of crap. *shugs*

  2. And you know what, sometimes there is a happy coincidence where, for a given situation, a single approach works effectively in advancing multiple goals. I don’t think waiting for such occasions is effective in the long term.

  3. bemused

    You obviously havent been paying attention. Surely you have been able to ascertain that I believe that Abbott is a rotten apple and he needs to go. But yet the rest of them are not that much better

  4. vic @ 3552
    Define “right”.

    There is clearly disagreement, even if you don’t wish to engage in an argument about it.

  5. BK @ 3553

    There we go! Thank you! xD

    He might just be Australia’s favourite TV dad since Hey Dad, except without all the kiddy fiddling stuff… Well, not directly anyway.

  6. Apparently, Abbott said today “Windfarms may have potential health impacts.”

    Tony Abbott also voted against plain packaging for cigarettes!

  7. [RD

    Good policy… and the ability to engage and sell it to the people.

    You need both.]

    Plus a public willing to buy it. You can have the best political product and sales pitch ever. But if the voters don’t want it, regardless of why or the rights and wrongs of it, then end of story.

  8. Just Me @ 3562
    [Plus a public willing to buy it. You can have the best political product and sales pitch ever. But if the voters don’t want it, regardless of why or the rights and wrongs of it, then end of story.]
    That’s fine, so it doesn’t get implemented. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to persuade them.

    Also, in terms of political strategy, it’s not whether people want it or not, it’s what their reaction to getting it or not will be. People can want something and still be reasonable if they don’t get it.

  9. GG

    [then you really just have personal opinion to support your view]

    I know that I’ve seen research before, but I’m not that keen to look for it now. I have other things to do.

    I would note, however, that I have shown just as much evidence to support my claim as Father Day in supporting the claim at the paragraph that I quoted. Just because I’m not a cleric of the Catholic Church does not make my word as to the research I saw any less valid than Father Day’s.

    I do agree, though, that Father Day’s contribution was far less bizarre than the contributions to the debate we have been seeing from Fred Nile and the ACL.

  10. Victoria @ 3540

    I noticed (to my surprise) Nathan Rees on the Drum the other night in support of the idea of revoking citizenship of these guys so they don’t come back here. Now for a former Labor leftie like him to support the notion in principle shows just popular the proposal is among the hoi polloi.

    That said, like many simple propositions, once people start to think through the details and – in particular – realise that potato head will make the decisions based on the smell of an oily niqab – they might be less wholeheartedly in support. For my part, I worry about the rights and wrongs of rendering stateless people who were born in Australia even if they might theoretically be able to apply for citizenship of another country.

    At this stage, though, the thought of an Australian citizen going overseas, fighting against the very values we hold dear and, possibly, against Australian military personnel, being able to slip back here when it suits them without consequences is anathema to most Australians. Turning that thought into a practical and fair power to revoke citizenship is another matter.

  11. Sure, we don’t live in a dictatorship, but it’s not mob rule either. We can, and frequently do, decide that others may be more qualified than us in addressing specific issues.

  12. 3567

    We just have to hope that the legal challenge to this has good lawyers who take every angle of attack, including section 51xxxviii of the Constitution, to get it ruled unconstitutional and that the High Court rules in the plaintiff`s favour.

  13. Joe Hockey : ““If you’ve got a good job and it pays good money and you have security in relation to that job, then you can go to the bank and you can borrow money,” Hockey said, according to The Daily Telegraph.”

    Get a good job apparently is the new slogan.

    It perhaps everyone should be a member of parliament then.

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