Baird set for victory at NSW election: poll
AAP
Despite his unpopular plan to privatise New South Wales’ electricity network, Mike Baird looks set for re-election in a landslide victory at Saturday’s state election, a new poll has revealed.
According to the Fairfax Ipsos poll published on Sunday, Mr Baird’s Coalition government leads Labor, 54 to 46 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.
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Mr Baird himself is Australia’s most popular premier, with an approval rating of 60 per cent.
The Coalition also leads Labor on the primary vote, 47 to 32 per cent.
The poll comes at the same time as an investigation by The Conversation which revealed the online voting system was last week open to hacking and tampering from third parties.
The investigation found the iVote system had major security flaws which could have given hackers the ability to alter the 66,000 votes already recorded.
NSW Premier Mike Baird remains popular despite his affiliation with Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
According to the report, the 2015 NSW election is Australia’s biggest-ever test of electronic voting, with hackers potentially able to determine the fate of elections.
The New South Wales election looks set to defy a national swing against state Coalition governments, with both Queensland and Victoria falling to Labor in recent months.
The positive poll results come despite a lack of support for the Coalition’s plan to sell the state’s electrical network, which 62 per cent of voters are opposed to.
The sale promises to deliver $20 billion for infrastructure projects.
When asked their view on the “poles and wires” sale, with the proceeds being used for infrastructure, the proposal was more popular, with 48 per cent of voters supporting it. This suggests some voters are not aware that this is in fact what Mr Baird is proposing to do.
The Coalition is still expected to lose a number of seats on March 28 after a massive swing toward them at 2011 election, where the Coalition led on a two-party-preferred basis, 64.2 to 35.8 per cent.
According to the Fairfax report, the government could lose up to 18 seats, but would still be left with a majority of 51 seats compared to Labor 38 in the 93-seat parliament.
New Labor leader Luke Foley has struggled to make a dent in Mr Baird’s poll standing despite linking him with deeply unpopular Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Mr Foley trails Mr Baird as preferred premier, 27 to 56 per cent.
Labor’s primary vote has fallen by two per cent since campaigning began in February.