New poll reveals WA warming to Anthony Albanese as Peter Dutton slumps to new low

Anthony Albanese’s first year in power has been given the tick of approval by WA voters, with a new poll showing almost twice the number of people are satisfied with the Prime Minister’s performance than not.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, however, continues to be on the nose with Western Australians with just one in six satisfied with the job he’s doing.

In the poll, Mr Dutton’s popularity sat at 16 per cent, lower than Liberal predecessor Scott Morrison on the eve of last year’s Federal election wipe-out.

A Painted Dog Research poll of 1409 voters reveals Mr Albanese’s popularity is on the rise in WA as he approaches his one-year anniversary as Prime Minister.

Just under half were satisfied with his performance, compared with about 26 per cent who were dissatisfied. A quarter remained on the fence.

Mr Albanese’s net satisfaction rating is double what it was as Opposition leader in April last year, in a sign West Australians have warmed to the Sydneysider.

Mr Albanese has made good on his promise to be a regular visitor to the State which delivered Labor its election win, making 12 trips west in the past 12 months, including for an historic Cabinet meeting in Port Hedland.

The news is not quite so positive for Treasurer Jim Chalmers after he handed down his second Federal Budget last week.

The Budget has received a lukewarm response, with some economists fearing the extra spending aimed at easing cost-of-living stress could add to inflation and even prompt further interest rate increases.

Dr Chalmers has rejected those suggestions, confident the Government has struck the right balance in helping the most vulnerable without pouring fuel on the inflation fire.

About a third were satisfied with Dr Chalmers’ job managing the nation’s books, while just under a quarter were not.

The polling is dire for Mr Dutton as he tries to rebuild the Coalition to give it a fighting chance at the next election. His net satisfaction rating of 16 per cent is lower than the 19 per cent which agreed he was the right person to take over from Mr Morrison after the election drubbing.

Just 13 per cent of women are satisfied with his showing, in a brutal reminder of just how far the ex-defence minister has to go to reconnect with female voters.

Mr Dutton held his first shadow cabinet meeting in Perth and has made trips to regional WA to campaign against the abolition of the cashless debit card and Labor’s plan to phase out live sheep exports. But it appears to have done little for his reputation.

Even Mr Morrison had a higher net satisfaction (26 per cent) than Mr Dutton in the month before last year’s catastrophic Federal election, in which the Liberals lost four seats to Labor and the blue-ribbon seat of Curtin to independent Kate Chaney.

However, Mr Morrison did have a larger net dissatisfaction — almost 55 per cent compared with Mr Dutton’s 48 per cent.