Dutton’s personal approval ratings collapse during campaign: Poll
A new poll has shown a major collapse in support for Coalition leader Peter Dutton as he and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepare to face off for the second time.
The ABC will host the leaders’ debate on Wednesday night, with the event to be moderated by Insiders host David Speers.
An Ipsos poll commissioned for Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday revealed Dutton’s personal approval ratings had fallen to the lowest level of any opposition leader for 20 years.
Just 27 per cent of voters approved of his performance as the election campaign reaches the halfway point, with 47 per cent disapproving.
That left him with a dissatisfaction score of -20.
“Peter Dutton has recorded the lowest poll performance rating and lowest figure as preferred PM of any candidate this century,” Ipsos public affairs director Jessica Elgood told Daily Mail Australia.
Albanese’s satisfaction rating was -4, with 35 per cent of those surveyed approving of his performance and 39 per cent disapproving.
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“There’s not a lot of love for either of our possible future prime ministers,” said Elwood, but Dutton’s ratings were “low compared to political leaders over the last two decades”.
The poll also showed that most Australians believed the country was heading in the wrong direction.
The Coalition and Labor announced policies to target housing affordability at their official campaign launches at the weekend.
Experts say the plans are inflationary and said neither tackled the supply aspect of the crisis.
Labor has pledged to allow first-home buyers to purchase properties with deposits of just 5 per cent.
The Coalition has promised to make interest payments made by first-time buyers on new homes tax deductible for five years.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil and her opposition counterpart Michael Sukkar will go head-to-head in a debate at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
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Russia reports ‘not true’
Defence Minister Richard Marles has sought to calm Australians over suggestions Russia had requested a military presence in Indonesia.
Military publication Janes reported Moscow was seeking permission from Jakarta for Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft to be based at the Manuhua Air Force Base at Biak Numfor — about 1400 kilometres from Australia’s mainland.
On Tuesday night, Marles said he had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, who assured him that would not be the case.
“He has said to me in the clearest possible terms, reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true,” Marles said.
The article caused alarm in Canberra, and prompted Australia’s leaders to come out against the proposal, warning Moscow it was not welcome.
Albanese earlier said the government did not want to “see Russian influence in our region”.
“We stand with Ukraine to regard Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian leader who has broken international law, who’s attacking the sovereignty of the nation of Ukraine,” he said in Melbourne.
In response to the report, Dutton labelled the Russian president a “murderous dictator” and said he was not welcome in Australia’s neighbourhood.
“My message to President Putin is that we don’t share any values… and we do not want the military presence from Russia in our region, which would be destabilising for South-East Asia,” he said.
“It would certainly be a very different calculation for the risks that posed to our country in a period that is very uncertain.”
Dutton said it would be “a catastrophic failure” for the Albanese government if it had been unaware of the request.
Russia, which has a “no-limits friendship” with China, has taken steps to strengthen its defence ties with Indonesia as its war on Ukraine dragged into the fourth year.
Russian deputy trade and industry minister Alexey Gruzdev addressed a business forum held in Jakarta on Monday, stressing Moscow’s commitment to boosting co-operation.
The deepening defence relationship between Moscow and Jakarta has concerned Canberra.
