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Newspoll approval ratings
This quick graph shows net Newspoll approval ratings
(satisfaction minus dissatisfaction) over the Howard government's nine and a
half years. Howard's
numbers blue, Labor leaders' are the red
line. I don't think much of opposition leader's approval ratings, because
no-one really knows what respondents understand the question to be (and it would
mean different things to different people), but PM approval at least indicates
to some degree the amount of satisfaction with the way the country is governed. Howard's, as we
often hear, are high. (Continue
reading below.)
You'll probably need to scroll to the right for full graph. Blue crosses at an election or change of Labor leadership. Beazley's net
approval was always respectable in his first two terms, usually positive and,
even more usually, higher than the PM's. Crean, who took over after the 2001 election,
sunk very low, and Latham's were, as has often been noted, the highest in Newspoll
history. But Marky-Mark went down fast after the 2004 election and, while
Beazley started well, he too has been sinking.
See also the PM's blue line. From being
little to write home about during Beazley's first opposition leader stint, it
hit dizzy heights on Crean's watch, and then dropped a little for both Latham
and Beazley. But Latham's sky-high approval rating didn't substantially eat into Howard's,
while Beazley's subsequent drops have, if anything, been accompanied by drops in
the PM's.
More to come to coincide with Fin Review piece, which should be this coming Saturday
(September 17 2005).