Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has overtaken Labor in the latest polling, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point since taking office.
One Nation recorded 29 per cent of the primary vote, edging ahead of Labor on 28 per cent, according to a RedBridge Group and Accent Research poll conducted for the Australian Financial Review.
Published on Sunday, the results represent the sixth change in the polling lead in six months, as Albanese’s net favourability rating suffered a steep decline.
The measure, calculated by subtracting unfavourability from favourability, fell 10 points in a single month to -27 per cent.
That is the weakest rating of Albanese’s prime ministership and equals the figure recorded by former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton shortly before the 2025 federal election.
Albanese still leads as voters’ preferred prime minister, although his advantage has narrowed.
His support remained unchanged at 31 per cent, while Hanson’s rating climbed to 26 per cent in the latest poll.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor was steady on 15 per cent. The Greens slipped one point to 11 per cent after Larissa Waters resigned as party leader last week because of ill health.
Anthony Albanese’s approval ratings have fallen sharply in new polling data
One Nation moved ahead of Labor on 29 per cent of the primary vote compared with Labor’s 28 per cent, according to a new poll
Among the 1,000 respondents, Labor retained a lead over One Nation on a two-party-preferred basis, 52 per cent to 48 per cent. The result was unchanged from September.
However, RedBridge director Tony Barry said the wider findings pointed to continuing political difficulties for Albanese and the Labor government.
‘Labor’s vote share is back to its lowest recorded level,’ he told the AFR.
‘The current political challenge for Labor is that the cash register never lies and voters will rarely reward a government when they are feeling poorer.’
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The survey also recorded a sharp deterioration in public sentiment towards Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Chalmers’ net favourability rating dropped nine points over the month to -23 per cent, its lowest result since the poll began.
Taylor’s net rating fell three points to -6 per cent, while Hanson’s improved by two points to -10 per cent.
Cabinet Secretary Andrew Charlton defended Chalmers and ruled out the Treasurer being replaced in a reshuffle.
The poll also showed deteriorating voter sentiment towards Treasurer Jim Chalmers whose net favourability rating fell nine points in a month to minus 23 per cent
‘No, Jim Chalmers is doing an extraordinary job in very difficult global circumstances,’ he told the AFR.
According to the figures, concern about economic management as a key issue among voters increased from 14 per cent to 21 per cent in a month.
But when asked which party would be most trusted in managing the economy, Labor dropped to 20 per cent of the vote while the Coalition rose to 29 per cent. One Nation took 16 per cent of the vote.
Financial issues were the dominant concern among Australian voters in the poll, with the cost of living topping the list at 73 per cent.
This was followed by concerns about healthcare (36 per cent), housing affordability (33 per cent), the rate of immigration (29 per cent) and crime and public safety (24 per cent).
Government debt was a key concern for about 14 per cent, then climate change (13 per cent), national security (11 per cent) and tax reform (9 per cent).
The more conservative parties, One Nation and the Coalition, led Labor and the Greens on all of the issues surveyed.
They led by 43 per cent to 26 per cent on cost of living, 37 per cent to 34 per cent on healthcare, 39 per cent to 26 per cent on housing, 56 per cent to 25 per cent on immigration and 44 per cent to 22 per cent on crime.