Support for the Coalition has fallen below levels recorded during the 2022 election campaign, amid a wave of personal approval for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The latest Newspoll for The n found that support for the Coalition has drastically dropped compared to earlier this year when the majority of voters believed Peter Dutton would win the May 3 election.
But it’s not all good news for Mr Albanese and the Labor government with majority of voters now expecting a hung parliament.
Those who plan to support the Coalition fell further one point to 35 per cent from a high of 40 per cent in November and 39 per cent in January.
It’s the lowest support for the Coalition since the failed Voice referendum in October 2023.
Personal support for Mr Dutton has also dropped with his approval rating now sitting at the lowest recorded for an opposition leader during an election campaign since Bill Shorten.
Mr Dutton’s approval rating fell one point to 37 per cent while his dissatisfaction rating rose to 56 per cent, resulting in a net rating of -19.
Meanwhile, Mr Albanese’s net rating rose to -4, well up from -20 recorded in February, his worst result since the 2022 election.
Mr Albanese (49 per cent) has extended his lead over Mr Dutton (38 per cent) as preferred prime minister.
The result comes after Mr Dutton’s backflip on return to the office mandate for public servants.
Despite the PM’s latest survey victories, support for Labor’s primary vote remained low at just 33 per cent for the third successive poll.
Support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party has risen with its primary vote now sitting at eight per cent, three points higher than recorded at the 2022 election.
The Greens’ results remained the steady at 12 per cent with the same figure recorded for other minor parties and independents.
Labor remains ahead of the Coalition 52-48 on the two-party-preferred vote for the second consecutive week.
The majority of voters hoped the upcoming election will result in a hung parliament or Labor forming a minority government with the support of the Greens or independents.
Only 15 per cent of those surveyed were in favour of a Coalition minority government.
The shift in favour is very noticeable when comparing the latest results to those collected in January which tipped the Coalition as the winner of the election at 53 per cent versus 47 per cent for Labor.
Older and younger voters were divided over whether they wanted a majority or minority government.
More than half (53 per cent) of 18 to 34-year-olds were in favour of a hung parliament with either a minority Labor or Coalition government.
In comparison, only 12 per cent of voters aged over-65 wanted a minority government, preferably Labor.
The poll comes after a second week of campaigning dominated by US Donald Trump’s tariff trade war and the first televised debate between Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton.
About 1271 voters were surveyed for the most recent Newspoll conducted between April 7 and April 10.
The poll comes as both Labor and the Coalition launched their election campaigns on Sunday.
Former prime ministers Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott attended the Coalition launch in south-west Sydney.
Mr Albanese announced a $1000 tax break for millions of Aussies at the Labor campaign in Perth.