Anthony Albanese hits lowest approval rating since election, retains lead over Sussan Ley after Bondi attack

Anthony Albanese’s approval rating as Prime Minister has plummeted following the alleged Bondi terror attack; Almost half of respondents in a new poll were unimpressed by the government’s response.

Mr Albanese’s support fell 15 points between November and last week, from +6 to -9, according to a poll of 1010 Australians by the Resolve Political Monitor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers.

The drop represents the Prime Minister’s lowest approval watermark since the May election, according to the poll.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s approval rating also fell seven points, from +3 to -4; The preferred Prime Minister fell to 38 per cent for Mr Albanese and 30 per cent for Ms Ley.

Just two weeks ago Mr Albanese was 15 points ahead of Ms Ley, with 41 per cent of the public seeing him as the preferred prime minister.

The survey, conducted from Wednesday to Saturday, found that 26 percent of respondents described the government’s response to Bondi as very weak, while 20 percent thought it was weak.

Only one in ten believed the response was very strong, 19 per cent thought it was strong and a quarter of respondents said they were unsure.

The findings come a day after Mr Albanese was booed while attending a commemoration ceremony in Bondi on Sunday – an event attended by nearly 15,000 people exactly a week after the alleged terror incident.

Almost three-quarters of those surveyed by Resolve believed that racism and religious intolerance had increased since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, and 55 percent believed there was more anti-Semitism in society.

Only 13 percent said they thought Islamophobia was increasing.

The survey showed Australian society was divided on compliance; 38 percent said the fit was good and 30 percent said it was poor.

Labor maintains its strong two-party lead over the Coalition, 54 to 46.