Albanese and Ley’s approval ratings drop amid criticism over antisemitism response
The partisanship that has dominated federal politics since the terrorist attack on Bondi Beach has not produced any winners.
Not Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, not Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Definitely not among the Australian losers.
This week’s Resolve Political Monitor reveals a clear finding: Australians are concerned about racism and the breakdown of social cohesion. A clear majority of 72 per cent see more racism and intolerance in Australia than there was two years ago. More than half point to antisemitism as the reason.
Personal approval ratings for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and Premier Anthony Albanese (R) have fallen, but support for NSW Premier Chris Minns has increased. Credit: Aresna Villanueva
They expected strong action and they didn’t get it from the federal government. They also expect strong leadership and have not seen that anywhere in the federal political sphere.
Albanese has faced fierce criticism from the Jewish community, former Liberal leaders, the federal opposition and some sections of the media over his handling of antisemitism in the two years before and in the days after the attack on Australian Jews on 14 December. His response has been questioned at length, including on this byline.
Some of these comments were extraordinarily personal. The poll does not show that voters share the views of John Howard or Josh Frydenberg, who went before the cameras and blamed the Albanians. But most Australians agree with the general sentiment: 46 per cent think the Albanian government’s response to the Bondi terror attack was weak, while 29 per cent think it was strong.
This caused a 15-point drop in Albanese’s personal approval ratings. (The poll period also brings two weeks of anger over politicians’ spending; the prime minister was also found to be missing.)
The findings confirm the substance of the Coalition’s criticism, but not its leadership. There’s a message for Ley in this too.
Australians may agree when Ley says the government’s response to such horrors has been inadequate, but this has not translated into personal support. Quite the opposite. Ley’s approval ratings also fell by 7 points.
