(Bloomberg) — Australian voters’ dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s performance is growing and support for his signature Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposal is waning, amid increased frustration over the rising cost of living.
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The centre-left government’s primary vote fell to 36% in the latest Resolve survey published on Monday, the lowest level since the government came to power in May 2022. Albanese’s net approval rating fell to minus 7, with 47% of respondents disapproving of the job he has. do as Prime Minister, compared to 40% in favor.
Support for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Albanians’ signature proposal, has fallen to 43% from 64% a year ago. Australians will vote in a referendum on October 14 to include an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory body in the constitution.
Resolve’s results echo surveys from Newspoll and Essential over the past week, all of which showed a decline in support for Albanians, the Labor government and the Voice to Parliament. The poll comes as higher interest rates and falling real wages put pressure on household budgets and damage the government’s position.
Defending Labour’s performance on Sunday, acting Prime Minister Richard Marles told Sky News he remained “very optimistic” about The Voice’s success.
“When you explain that to the Australian people, this is an uncontroversial, simple proposal and I am optimistic about the ability to pass this referendum,” Marles said.
The outcome follows a week of criticism of the government over its decision to reject an application from Qatar Airways to operate more flights to Australia, potentially reducing competition and keeping airfares unnecessarily high.
Marles said he was not consulted by Infrastructure Minister Catherine King before she decided to deny Qatar Airways’ request. The confusion over the reasoning behind the decision has fueled accusations that the government was protecting Qantas’ dominant position in the domestic market.
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