Anthony Albanese’s approval rating has dipped to a new low but there are signs the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has gone all-in on a losing hand, with voters concerned about the cost and safety of nuclear energy.
Those are the results of the latest Guardian Essential poll of 1,141 Australians which found that nuclear energy has leapfrogged renewable energy as the perceived “most expensive” form of electricity.
Albanese’s approval rating is now net -9, the lowest since he took the top job by winning the May 2022 election. Some 49% of respondents disapproved of the job he is doing as prime minister, up three points from June, compared with 40% who approved, down three.
Dutton’s approval rating is steady, with 42% of respondents disapproving of the job he is doing as opposition leader and 41% approving.
The proportion of respondents who said Australia was on the “wrong track” increased to 54%, up five points since June, while those who said it was going in the “right direction” dropped four points to 30%.
Asked about a series of individual characteristics, the majority of respondents said Albanese plays politics (75%), changes his opinion depending on who he thinks is listening (64%), is out of touch with ordinary people (61%), and is narrow-minded (53%).
Dutton rated similarly on these measures, but people were less likely to say he plays politics (71%) and changes his opinion depending on who he thinks is listening (54%).
Just 42% of people described Albanese as “decisive” compared with 52% for Dutton – a concerning statistic for Labor given Dutton’s efforts to portray the prime minister as a weak leader.
Less than half those asked described Albanese as trustworthy (38%), visionary (34%) or aggressive (26%). Instead, voters were more likely to say Dutton is visionary (41%) and aggressive (50%).
After Dutton announced seven sites for potential nuclear reactors, if the Coalition were elected and lifted the ban, voters were split on the plan: 52% described it as “an attempt to extend the life of gas and limit investment in large-scale renewables”. In a forced-choice question, the rest (48%) said the plan “is serious, and should be considered as a part of the nation’s energy future”.
Given a choice of three energy sources, most (59%) ranked renewable energies, such as wind and solar, as the “most desirable” overall, compared with 23% who said the same for nuclear and 19% fossil fuels, such as coal and gas. Nuclear was judged “least desirable” by 45% of respondents.
On cost, nuclear energy was rated “most expensive” by 38% of respondents, up two points from April, while 35% said the same of renewables, down five points. Just over a quarter (27%) rated fossil fuels the “most expensive”, up three from April.
Renewables were rated best for the environment by most respondents (55%), followed by a quarter (24%) who ranked nuclear best and just 21% who rated fossil fuels best.
But fossil fuels did rate well in terms of “job creation”, with 39% rating it best on that measure, followed by 36% for renewables and 25% for nuclear.
More than three in five (61%) said they were “concerned” or “very concerned” about the safety of building and running nuclear power plants in Australia, compared with 39% who said they were not concerned.
Less than half those asked (43%) said they were “extremely” or “very” worried about climate change, a further 26% were “somewhat” worried, and 28% were either “not very” or “not at all” worried.
Voters were asked which sources they trusted to provide accurate information about the energy transition. Friends and family topped the list with 44% who trusted them “a lot”.
Fewer than one in five (20%) trusted community members and spokespeople, government agencies, the federal government, energy companies, or local councils “a lot”.
More than a third (35%) said they did not trust the federal government “at all”, double the number who said they trusted them “a lot” (17%). A further 39% trusted it “a little”.
