Anthony Albanese’s approval has fallen to its lowest level since the 2022 election and almost half of voters think Australia is heading in the wrong direction, the latest Guardian Essential poll suggests.
More than two-thirds of voters (68%) think the Albanese government is not doing enough to ensure “affordable and secure rentals” while three-quarters (75%) said the same about the cost of living, the survey of 1,148 respondents found.
The poll was taken in the final parliamentary sitting week before the winter break, after the Greens and Coalition teamed up in the Senate to delay the government’s $10bn housing future fund until October.
According to the poll, just one-third of voters (33%) said Australia was heading in the right direction, down eight points since May and even lower than February 2022 when Scott Morrison was still in office (40%).
The proportion who said Australia was going in the wrong direction was up eight points to 47%. About one in five (21%) were unsure.
While Australia enjoys an unemployment rate of just 3.6%, the figures suggest a darkening mood due to persistently high inflation and 12 consecutive interest rate rises.
Asked to give a rating from 0 to 10 points for each of the leaders, more than one-third (36%) had a positive view of Albanese, rating him between 7 and 10 on the scale. But this is a drop of five points and his lowest rating as prime minister.
About a third (32%) had a neutral rating for Albanese, up two points, while 27% ranked his performance towards the bottom of the scale, up three points.
The federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, recorded a four-point improvement in the proportion who had a positive view of him, up to 27%. About a third (32%) had a neutral view of Dutton and a third (34%) had a negative view.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, appeared even less popular than Dutton, with just 21% having a positive view, 29% a neutral view and 38% a negative view.
Albanese and Dutton were almost neck and neck among male voters but Albanese enjoyed a big lead among women, with 39% giving him a positive rating compared with 23% for Dutton.
Bandt trailed in most demographics, except for those aged 18 to 34, where 36% had a positive view of the Greens leader and 35% had a positive view of Albanese. When Bandt’s approval was last polled in August, Albanese was ahead 36% to 31% among this age group.
On economic issues, 75% of respondents said the government was not doing enough on the cost of living compared with 20% who said it was doing enough and 5% who said too much.
More than two-thirds (68%) said the Albanese government was not doing enough to ensure “affordable and secure rentals”, compared with one-quarter (25%) who said it was doing enough and 6% too much.
Support for more action on “affordable and secure rentals” spanned all age groups, with majority support among 18- t0 34-year-olds (61%), 35- to 54-year-olds (70%) and those aged 55 and over (73%).
On environmental issues, voters narrowly favoured more action over those who said the government was doing enough: 51% to 42% for preserving endangered species; 51% to 41% for preserving oceans and rivers; 49% to 43% for preserving native forests; 45% to 39% for mitigating the effects of climate change and 43% to 41% for restricting offshore oil and gas development.
More voters thought the government was doing enough than favoured more action when it came to renewable energy (43% to 41%) and electric vehicles (47% to 34%).
The poll suggests a majority of the electorate has either voted for the Greens or independent at some time in the past (35%) or would consider doing so in the future (23%).
But two-fifths (42%) remained rusted-on supporters of the major parties, reporting that they had “never given my first preference to the Greens or an independent candidate and don’t think I ever will”.
Young voters were the least rusted-on, with 21% saying they had never and would never vote for the Greens or independents and 31% saying they had not done so but would consider it.
Respondents had a poor impression of the safety of parliament, with just 38% rating it a safe workplace for women, higher than said the same of the entertainment industry (36%) but lower than the public service (49%), private companies (47%) and sporting clubs (45%).
The poll was conducted after a week of allegations of inappropriate behaviour raised in the Senate against the former Liberal senator David Van, which he denies, and attacks against Labor’s Katy Gallagher over the handling of Brittany Higgins’ sexual assault allegation, which has long been denied by the man she accused.
