The federal Coalition has for the first time held a narrow lead over Labor in a key election battleground, according to a surprise new poll.
The Liberal-National Coalition has overtaken Labor in NSW, with its pre-election vote up two percentage points to 40 percent for the first time in history. Labor rose just one percentage point to 33 percent.
This means that Anthony Albanese’s party could lose two seats in the state in the next election.
The Coalition has also increased its lead in Queensland and is closing in on Labor in Victoria and South Australia, where the Premier’s party remains ahead.
The state-by-state survey of almost 5,000 Australians, conducted by Newspoll for The Australianfound that Labor still leads the coalition with a reduced two-party preference vote of 51-49.
But the majority of male voters now support the Coalition for the first time, while female voters still marginally prefer Labor.
The results suggest that Labor could be forced to form a minority government with independents at the next election, expected in May next year.
The Prime Minister will be concerned about Labor’s loss of support among young voters, as the primary vote fell by three percentage points to 30 per cent.
Worrying news for Anthony Albanese (pictured): the LNP has overtaken Labor in NSW for the first time, where their vote rose by two points to 40 per cent.
Peter Dutton (pictured last week with his wife Kirilly) has also overtaken Anthony Albanese in his home state of Queensland as the preferred premier
This target group, aged between 18 and 34, has largely switched to the Greens, who saw their support rise to 27 percent.
Mr Dutton has also overtaken Mr Albanese in his home state of Queensland as the preferred premier.
In South Africa, the parties are tied on 34 percent of the vote going into the primaries, with the Coalition gaining one point and Labor losing one.
Elsewhere, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party made gains, rising from seven to 10 percent in Queensland and from 10 to 12 percent in South Australia.