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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Nicholas

The polls point to a Labor win, but its primary vote is barely moving – can both things be true?

Composite image with Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese outside Parliament House, Canberra
Guardian Australia’s poll tracker shows Labor overtaking the Coalition towards the end of March, not long after Cyclone Alfred hit. Composite: The Guardian

Australia’s major parties are headed for a historically low primary vote, continuing a downward trend of several decades, according to the latest from Guardian Australia’s poll tracker. Labor leads the Coalition 51.5-48.5 on the two-party-preferred measure according to our latest average, although there is still uncertainty in the polling.

The two-party-preferred vote has been trending towards a repeat of the last election, but this masks a more than two-point primary vote drop for both major parties. The votes lost by the major parties have gone “everywhere”, according to pollsters who spoke to Guardian Australia. Our model estimates the support for independents and minor parties is four points higher than at the last election.

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