Labor gets ‘message’ after historic poll for One Nation
Pauline Hanson's party has for the first time in a poll's history overtaken Labor in popularity, as Anthony Albanese's approval rating hits a low among voters.
LABOR insists it’s implementing “big changes” as voters abandon the major parties, with new polling showing Pauline Hanson’s right-wing party is the most popular for the first time.
The Newspoll recorded a four-point rise in One Nation’s primary vote to 31 per cent, while Labor dipped one point to 30 per cent and the coalition fell two points to 18 per cent.
The poll comes after fierce criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government following its bid to introduce controversial tax reforms in the May budget. The laws face an uncertain future, with the Greens yet to indicate if they will back them through the Senate.
”We see those polls and we get the message, which is we need big changes in this country, and that’s exactly what Labor is delivering,” Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said, even as she took aim at One Nation as a protest party.
“We agree this country needs to be changed, so that it’s fairer, so people get paid more, taxed less, they get the health and education services that they deserve,” she told Seven’s Sunrise on Monday.
“Pauline Hanson’s been around politics for three decades, and she still has a list of complaints and no real policies for change.”
Published in The Australian, the Newspoll also showed a one-point decline for the Greens to 11 per cent while backing for those in the “others” category – minor parties and independents – remained unchanged on 10 per cent.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, also on Sunrise, said Labor’s “scratchy” reaction to the polling showed it was in serious trouble.
“One Nation is a reflection of the sentiment of the people … (they) are over Labor and they’re over the coalition,” he said.
Mr Joyce said the nation needed to re-evaluate the number of people it “could absorb” amid a debate surrounding immigration as housing supply comes under further strain.
Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume said it was the coalition’s job to demonstrate to voters it was a credible alternative that would restore their standard of living.
“One Nation is a grievance party that delivers slogans but not solutions,” she told Sky News.
“We’ll also make sure that we put Australians first. That’s the promise that we’ll deliver – a freer and fairer and better Australia.”
The poll is in line with the results of a recent Redbridge Group/Accent Research analysis that showed One Nation was on track to win up to 59 seats, which would displace the coalition as the opposition and force Labor into minority government.
The latest Newspoll puts Mr Albanese’s net approval rating – the number of people satisfied with his performance minus those dissatisfied – at minus 24.
It found just 36 per cent of participants were satisfied with the prime minister’s performance, while 60 per cent were unhappy.
A month ago, Mr Albanese’s net approval rating in Newspoll was minus 17.
The survey marks the first time since Newspoll started in 1985 that the major parties, both Labor and the coalition, attracted less than 50 per cent of the primary vote.
It involved 1240 voters online, has a 3.2-point margin of error and was conducted between Monday and Thursday last week.
At the 2025 federal election, Labour received 34.6 per cent of the primary vote while the Coalition garnered 31.8 per cent.
One Nation, however, collected 6.4 per cent and did not win any seats in the lower house.
The party has since won its first seat in the House of Representatives after David Farley took the regional NSW seat of Farrer from the Liberals in May’s by-election.
