Voters prefer Labor over coalition on key policy front
The Coalition has lost its 40-year streak of being favored over Labor in managing the economy.
The Australian Election Study, conducted by the Australian National University and Griffith University, shows that voters now trust Labor’s approach to economic issues and that the coalition has lost the advantage it had long enjoyed.
The Liberals had their lowest score in the 2025 survey, dropping to an average of 4.2 points on a zero to 10 scale of how much people like the party.
Former opposition leader Peter Dutton’s unpopularity in May’s federal election broke several poll records, while voters signaled their clear preference for Anthony Albanese as prime minister.
“Dutton was the least popular major party leader the study has polled so far,” said study co-author Ian McAllister.
“According to the voters, the leadership quality he lacked the most was ‘inspiration’, followed by ‘compassion’.”
The Australian Election Survey has been conducted after every federal poll since 1987.
The full report on the 2025 elections will be published in Parliament House on Wednesday.
In the federal elections, the coalition had its worst election result, winning only 43 seats in the House of Representatives.
The results of the survey show that voter volatility continues to increase; 25 percent of the participants state that they do not feel close to any political party.
Co-author Sarah Cameron said the wide gender gap that emerged over the last decade persisted.
Dr. “The Coalition received its lowest ever vote from women – nine per cent fewer women voted than men,” Cameron said.
“Conversely, Labor gets more votes from women than men.
“The five per cent gender gap in Labor voting is around half that of the coalition.”
There has also been a dramatic decline in confidence in Australia’s relations with the US; 55 per cent of voters said they trusted the US to defend Australia, down from 73 per cent in 2022.
These dire results came as the coalition’s primary vote failed to rise above record lows in the latest Newspoll data, which revealed most voters backed Andrew Hastie as the preferred opposition leader.
Labor maintains a 58-42 per cent lead in the two-party preferred vote.
Opposition treasury spokesman Ted O’Brien will make a keynote speech on Wednesday to outline some of the principles of the coalition’s economic policy.
Mr O’Brien will describe a new focus on intergenerational equality and criticize the decline in productivity levels.
“Today, we live off the productivity gains of the generations before us,” he will say.
“The generation before you creates your foundation, then you build on it for the next generation. This is the intergenerational agreement.
“But this intergenerational agreement is breaking down.”
He will also use his speech to reiterate the coalition’s promise to cut income taxes and reintroduce Howard-era measures limiting government spending.
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