Scott Morrison facing election defeat, latest Newspoll shows

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has backed Prime Minister Scott Morrison despite a sobering result for the Federal Coalition in the latest Newspoll today.

The survey of Australian voters showed support for the Liberals-National Coalition has slumped to the lowest levels since the 2018 Liberal leadership spill.

In the first Newspoll of the year released by News Corp, the primary vote for the Liberal-Nationals has fallen three points to 34 per cent while Labor's has risen by three points to 41 per cent.

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The Coalition is also trailing Labor by 56 per cent to 44 per cent on the two-party preferred vote, the worst result since September 18, shortly after Mr Morrison became prime minister.

But Mr Frydenberg told Today this morning that Mr Morrison was the right person to lead the Coalition into this year's election.

"Scott Morrison has done a really really good job, in very, very difficult times and he will be the first Prime Minister to go to an election after serving a full term since John Howard," Mr Frydenberg said.

"He will campaign very strongly."

The Treasurer said the poll results showed many Australians continued to suffer from the effects of the pandemic but the economy was recovering.

"Many Australians continue to do it tough in the middle of a pandemic ... The economy is recovering, the unemployment rate has been coming down and of course more and more people every day are getting both the vaccinations and the booster shots," Mr Frydenberg said.

If the poll results were replicated at this year's election - which must be held before May - the Coalition would lose up to 25 seats, giving Labor a big majority in the lower house.

In other results of the survey, Mr Morrison still leads Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese as the preferred prime minister, but only just with the result sitting at 43 per cent to 41 per cent.

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After weeks of campaigning by Mr Albanese across Queensland and Victoria over the weekend, the Labor leader has gained ground.

For the first time, the Coalition is also trailing Labor on the question of which party is deemed better at leading Australia's recovery out of the pandemic.

The poll result is likely to deter Mr Morrison from caling an election in March, with May now firming as the likely date.

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