Josh Frydenberg said that there is a message in the Coalition’s recent fall in polls. The Treasurer attempts to position the government ahead of next year’s election as the underdog.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg claimed that the latest Newspoll shows Australians “continued to do it very difficult” but doubled down the government’s record during this pandemic.
According to Newspoll published by The Australian, the Morrison Government is at its lowest since Scott Morrison assumed control from Malcolm Turnbull’s predecessor. The Coalition was well behind Labor when Scott Morrison took over.
Labor leads the Coalition 56 to 44 in the two-party preferred (TPP) stakes. Mr Morrison is now only a slim two point leader over Anthony Albanese as preferred Prime Minister.
Frydenberg stated that he was confident and made comparisons with the polls prior to the 2019 election, which indicated that the government was headed for a significant defeat.
“I don’t need to remind the media and you, the voters that only one poll matters is election day,” said Mr Frydenberg to Sky News Australia host Peter Stefanovic Monday.
“We were written off in 2019, many obituaries were composed by media and political opponents who got ahead.”
He stated that the poll showed the continued struggle of Australians during the pandemic and added that the government was “hearing that message”.
Although daily records of coronavirus cases have started to decline, hospitalsisations and economic factors continue to impact households.
In recent weeks, consumer confidence plunged as thousands of Americans were forced into COVID-19 isolation.
“There is a message from that Newspoll. “And that message is that many Australians continue doing it very difficult,” Mr Frydenberg stated.
“We are in the middle of an epidemic, we’ve had a disappointing summer with the huge spike in Omicron cases. Many Australians were upset by their holidays and we’re taking that to heart.”
The Treasurer admitted that the government was not in the polls 18 months after reaching a peak TPP-Labor lead of 52-47 during the height of the pandemic.
He said, “The Prime Minister, me and our colleagues all have said that we’re coming back, it’s very difficult, but there wasn’t a rule book in this pandemic,”
With the government using a late March Budget to launch its election campaign, the election will likely be held in May.
The Newspoll survey was commissioned by the Australian. 1,526 people were interviewed online.
