‘Two years of Liberal dysfunction’
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten — and a new poll — have savaged Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the anniversary of his second year in the top job.
After a resounding win in 2013, the Liberal Party continues to trail eight points behind Labor on the two-party preferred measure, 54 to 46 per cent in the latest Newspoll.
In two years, the LNP’s primary vote fell 6.6 points to 39 per cent and Mr Abbott lost 17 points of voter satisfaction to leave him at 24 per cent, The Australian reported on Monday.
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Before the poll’s release, Mr Shorten denounced the Abbott-led government as dysfunctional and mired in ‘lies and infighting’.
“Australians have learnt over the past two years that Tony Abbott is stuck in the past with no plan for the future — just a plan to keep his job,” he said in a statement.
But it was the Opposition Leader who suffered the most in the latest Newspoll, though he remained the preferred prime minister.
The opposition leader lost four points of voter satisfaction in the survey conducted on the weekend, leaving equally unpopular with Mr Abbott on 30 per cent.
To mark the anniversary, the Prime Minister released a 28-page document outlining what he perceived to be the Coalition’s achievements.
Not surprisingly, Mr Abbott took the opportunity to blame the previous Labor government.
“The legacy of six years of Labor failure is being repaired,” he said in a statement.
“Much has been achieved in the past two years, but it’s just the start.”
-with AAP.