Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had a bilateral meeting with PIF host, Palau President Surangel Whipps. Photo: PMO.
Only 35 per cent of Australians approve of Anthony Albanese’s performance as Prime Minister, and 56 per cent disapprove, according to the latest Essential poll.
The survey of 1,000-plus demographically weighted voters, conducted for The Guardian over the past week, recorded the worst approval rating for Mr Albanese since he became PM.
Labor’s national primary vote also dived, dropping five percentage points in the past month from 31 per cent to 26 per cent.
The Coalition also recorded a 26 per cent primary vote, but that was a four percentage point rise from last month’s 22 per cent.
It’s not just the government on the nose, however, as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation returned a primary vote of 23 per cent in the latest poll, a significant 5 percentage point slump from its 28 per cent peak in May.
Essential Media’s executive director, Peter Lewis, told the Guardian that while the poll has a 3 per cent margin of error, it partly reflected voters’ reactions to the confusing messages on migration being delivered as the survey was conducted.
“This month’s poll shows some churn away from the government towards both One Nation and the Coalition as a messy immigration debate swirls,” he said.
“The national mood is also at its lowest ebb since we started tracking in 2022, with 59 per cent of voters saying they think the nation is on the wrong track.
“The drivers for this appear to be cost of living, global uncertainty and extremely high levels of concern about the impact of AI on work.”
Last week Senator Hanson publicly disagreed with her newest federal MP David Farley over One Nation’s migration policy and net overseas migration numbers.
By the end of the week, Mr Albanese had publicly overruled his Immigration Minister Tony Burke over plans to cut Australia’s annual refugee intake.
The week’s end did, however, result in a Western Australian state byelection win for One Nation in the seat of Secret Harbour.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has been in Palau this week for the Pacific Islands Forum, where he announced a $600 million package to help fight transnational and organised crime in the region.
The PIF leaders unanimously endorsed Waqa Moana, a Pacific-led maritime security initiative to counter illicit drug trafficking.
Waqa Moana will focus on delivering actionable intelligence to Pacific police forces and operational responders.
“Pacific leaders have asked for Australia to do more and we will do more,” Mr Albanese said on Wednesday (2 September).
“Today, I announced that Australia will contribute a $600 million package that includes a range of measures. Enhanced aerial surveillance, more training for regional police.
“The Pacific Policing Initiative is playing a really important role … That’s so important as we go forward.
“We need to, as well, ensure that there’s greater cooperation between our border services, that exchange of information and intelligence that is important, and more work to stop drugs at their source, which of course is coming from South America and Central America in particular through the Pacific to Australia and New Zealand.
“It is very much in Australia’s interest to work with our Pacific partners to deal with these illicit crime issues and very important for our population.’
Another embarrassment for the Federal Government, however, is that only five non-Pacific leaders are planning to attend the October special Pre-COP climate change leaders-level event in Tuvalu, led by Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen.
Mr Bowen, also in Palau, said while it will be a key event for the Pacific, Pre-COPs are not usually leader-level events.
“The Pacific said to us, we thought it would be good to invite some leaders. We’ve done that. There’s a very small component in Tuvalu, which is a small country [and has] limited capacity to host people,” he said.
“But that will be important in terms of not only prime ministers, heads of multilateral development banks, cabinet ministers who often don’t attend pre-COP either, but are coming to this one.”
Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan described it as an embarrassing pre-COP disaster.
“Chris Bowen specifically set up Tuvalu as a leaders-level event, and now he’s desperately trying to pretend otherwise,” Mr Tehan said.
“Chris Bowen should apologise to Pacific leaders for letting his unfettered ego cause them embarrassment.
“Instead of spending millions on luxury hotels for politicians, bureaucrats and activists, Chris Bowen should be focused on delivering cheaper power bills back home.
“Labor’s priorities are all wrong.”
