Support for the Labor government has fallen as Aussies become increasingly worried about the cost-of-living crisis, a new poll has revealed.
Labor’s ‘core’ or primary support has fallen to 35 per cent, from 37 per cent in the past month, a Resolve poll published in Nine newspapers on Monday shows.
The figure is still well ahead of support for the Coalition which slipped to 30 per cent from 31 per cent.
Half of those polled expect the economy to become worse in the next three months.
More than half – 52 per cent – say the cost of living is their biggest priority, up from 32 per cent at the end of last year.
n voters are worried about the cost of living and are less likely to back the Labor government, although Anthony Albanese (pictured) remains the preferred prime minister
Households have weathered a series of interest rate rises since Labor was elected in May 2022, which has pushed up the cost of mortgage and other loan repayments.
Inflation has also risen, which has affected the cost of goods such as groceries and particularly petrol.
This has partly been driven by the flow-on effects from the war in Ukraine, but research company Resolve Strategic said there was little doubt support for Labor in the electorate was edging even lower.
‘Most ns cannot see an end to above-average inflation in the near future and are expecting rates to rise while their wages remain stubbornly fixed,’ Resolve director Jim Reed said.
However, Mr Albanese is still the preferred prime minister at 40 per cent to 27 per cent for Opposition leader Peter Dutton.
The poll surveyed 1,602 voters from November 1 to November 5, ending before the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the 13th time since May 2022.
Since Mr Albanese became Prime Minister, after-tax income for every household has fallen by 5.1 per cent – making it the worst plunge among developed nations.
Record immigration levels are also fuelling ‘s housing crisis, with more than 400,000 net overseas arrivals in the year to August and a population growth pace of 2.2 per cent that is among the highest in the rich world.
The rapid population growth has caused house prices in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to soar by double-digits since January despite a series of aggressive rate rises, with capital city rents surging 16 per cent in the past year on average.
‘s population grew by 2.2 per cent in the year to March – one of the highest in the developed world with only the likes of Canada and Singapore growing faster.
The net overseas migration level of 454,400 made up more than 80 per cent of the 563,200 population increase, when births were factored in.
The 413,530 annual immigration tally for August is well above Treasury’s net overseas arrivals forecast of 315,000 for 2023-24.
n borrowers are already copping the most severe interest rates rises since 1989.
Half of those polled (50 per cent) expect the economy to become worse in the next three months. A woman carrying shopping bags is pictured
Previous Labor governments in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s slashed immigration during cost of living crises, which helped contain house price rises and rents.
New Governor Michele Bullock is now expecting inflation to take longer to moderate, forecasting a return to the two to three per cent target in late 2025, instead of mid-2025 as forecast as recently as August.
Monthly mortgage repayments in November will be 68 per cent higher than they were in May 2022, when the RBA cash rate was still at a record low of 0.1 per cent.
Yet house prices have this year been surging, locking young people out of real estate, as new migrants with money compete to either buy or rent a home.