King Charles III has stronger approval among Australians for the way he is doing his job than either the prime minister or the man who wants to be PM, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
Taken just before the monarch’s arrival in Australia, the poll of 1,140 voters found that 50% approved of the job Charles was doing as Australia’s head of state, with 26% disapproving and 24% unsure.
The king’s approval rating was higher among men, at 52%, than among women, at 47%, and highest overall among those aged over 55. Among people identifying themselves as Coalition voters, his approval was at 68% – but also in majority territory among Labor voters, at 53%.
Asked the same question about how Peter Dutton was doing his job, respondents gave the opposition leader his highest approval rating since he took on the Liberal leadership in 2022, at 45% – or 3 percentage points higher than a month ago. Dutton’s disapproval rating has come down, from 42% in September to 39% when the latest poll was taken last week.
The voters have also marked Anthony Albanese up compared with last month, recording 44% job approval – a 2 point improvement. But more continue to disapprove than approve of the prime minister’s performance, with his disapproval rating steady on 48%.
The poll was taken through last week as news emerged of Albanese’s purchase, with his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, of a $4.3m clifftop home above Copacabana beach on the New South Wales Central Coast, where much of Haydon’s extended family is based.
It had concluded before Dutton announced his proposal to create a $5bn infrastructure fund to accelerate housing development.
On which was a better situation in parliament – having minor parties and independents holding the balance of power to scrutinise major-party policies, or a major party able to enact the policies they promised to deliver – 52% opted for the crossbenchers and 48% for the major party. This was an increase of 3 percentage points in crossbenchers’ favour since the question was last asked in June last year.
In response to a question on Australia’s identity in which respondents were given three options, 46% said their view of Australia was best described as “a part of the British commonwealth”. Describing it as “an independent Asia-Pacific state” received 37% support and just 17% opted for “a part of the US sphere of influence”.
The poll finds republican sentiment remains in the minority, with 45% supporting Australia becoming a republic, up 3 points since the beginning of the year.
But the proportion of those opposing abandoning the monarchy has also increased, with opposition up 4% since January, on 39%.
