Anthony Albanese: Prime Minister hits lowest approval rating since election, retains lead over Sussan Ley after alleged Bondi terror attack

Anthony Albanese’s approval rating as Prime Minister has dipped in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, with almost half of respondents to a new poll unimpressed with the government’s response. Mr Albanese’s support fell 15 points from +6 to -9 between November and last week, according to a poll of 1010 Australians conducted by Resolve Political Monitor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers. The drop, according to the poll, represents the Prime Minister’s lowest approval rating watermark since the May election. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s approval rating also dropped seven points from +3 to -4, with the preferred Prime Minister narrowing slightly to 38 per cent for Mr Albanese and 30 per cent for Ms Ley. Just two weeks ago, Mr Albanese held a 15-point lead over Ms Ley as 41 per cent viewed him as the preferred prime minister. The poll, which was conducted from Wednesday to Saturday, found 26 per cent of those surveyed describing the government’s response to Bondi as very weak and 20 per cent thought it was weak. Only one in ten believed the response was very strong, 19 per cent thought it was strong and a quarter of respondents said they were undecided. The findings come a day after Mr Albanese was booed while attending a vigil at Bondi on Sunday — an event attended by an estimated 15,000 people exactly one week after the alleged terror incident. Almost three quarters of those surveyed by Resolve believed racism and religious intolerance had been on the rise since the war in Gaza began in October 2023 and 55 per cent believed there was more anti-semitism in the community. Only 13 per cent said they thought there had been a rise in Islamophobia. The poll indicated the Australian community were divided on the issue of cohesion, with 38 per cent indicating it was good, while 30 said it was poor. Labor retains a strong two-party lead over the Coalition at 54 to 46.