CANBERRA (BLOOMBERG) - Voters are turning their backs on Australia's major parties after a bruising first week to the 2022 election campaign, with a new opinion polling showing a drop in support for both the centre-right government and the opposition Labor Party.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal National Coalition government saw its primary vote fall to 35 per cent, while the opposition Labor Party's fell to 36 per cent, according to a Newspoll opinion survey published in The Australian newspaper on Monday (April 18).
At the same time, one in four voters said they were planning to vote for a minor party or an independent candidate, with support rising to 12 per cent for the Australian Greens and 4 per cent for the far-right One Nation party.
Australia is due to vote in a national election on May 21, with the government campaigning for a fourth term in power off the back of its economic management.
The parties need 76 seats in the 151-seat Australian parliament if they want to form government, with Mr Morrison's coalition currently holding a slim majority.
Although the opposition Labor Party headed into the election as the favorite, its campaign struggled to contain a series of gaffes in its first week, including leader Anthony Albanese saying he didn't know the unemployment rate on the first day of the election campaign.
Mr Albanese's net approval rating has plunged to -14 in the latest Newspoll survey, its lowest since he became Labor Party leader in 2019, while PM Morrison's has recovered slightly to -9. The estimated two-party preferred vote has remained at 53 per cent for Labor and 47 per cent to the government.
If neither major party reaches 76 seats in the 151-seat national parliament at the May 21 vote, then both parties will need to negotiate with minor parties and independent lawmakers to form a minority government.
Australia has only had one minority government in the past half century, between 2010 and 2013, but recent elections have seen fewer and fewer votes won by the two major parties.
A Resolve opinion survey published in the Nine newspapers on Sunday also showed support had risen for several minor parties as the Labor Party's vote collapsed from 38 per cent to 34 per cent.
Speaking on Tuesday in Western Australia, Mr Morrison ruled out making a deal with any minor parties or independent lawmakers to form a minority government, saying a vote for an independent was a vote for “chaos”.
“This election is a choice, you can vote for the stability and certainty that we’ve been able to provide, you can vote for the chaos and instability of independents,” he told reporters.
While Mr Albanese has also rule out a deal with independents, both leaders would be forced to negotiate if neither wins 76 seats.
