‘Dutton curious’: Albo’s problem with the ladies

Working mums running financially stressed households are turning on the Albanese government according to a shock new poll.

More women than men now believe that Australia is on track to be worse off in the next five years, although men are not far behind.

Fed-up mums have also told pollsters ahead of the 2025 election that they are concerned the Prime Minister is not on the right track.

“Mums managing financially stressed homes are not fans of this government,” RedBridge pollster Kosmos Samaras, a former Labor strategist, told news.com.au.

“A number of key metrics that include how Australians feel about the direction of the country, satisfaction with the federal government’s performance or voter intention, mums who are managing households that are experiencing financial stress are carrying baseball bats to the next election.”

Female voters turning on former PM Scott Morrison was a significant factor in his declining popularity.

A RedBridge poll released on Wednesday and first published in The Daily Telegraph showed nearly half of the 1500 voters surveyed between November 13 and 20 shared the grim outlook.

Around half of voters believed the Albanese government did not have the right focus.

Only those earning $3000 a week or $150,000 a year were more optimistic, with white-collar managers more likely to be upbeat than their blue-collar counterparts.

Regardless of whether voters are owning, renting or paying off a mortgage many sounded a pessimistic prediction on living standards.

When asked if the government had the right priorities, 25 per cent of Australians said they strongly disagreed and 27 per cent disagreed.

Mr Albanese, who has described himself as a “working-class boy from public housing”, has barely worked in private enterprise his entire professional career

“Labor’s problem is that Albanese is a white-collar person’s idea of a blue-collar person and a perception among their base that his priorities are not aligned with theirs,” RedBridge director Tony Barry said.

“If they can’t reconnect with their base in coming months there’s a real danger that some Labor seats that aren’t normally in play might be on the table during the campaign.”

A majority of voters — 57 per cent — claimed they felt worse off today than when Mr Albanese was elected two-and-a-half years ago.

Only 31 per cent of voters thought they were better off now than when Mr Albanese was elected.

In good news for Liberal leader Peter Dutton, more voters than ever before believe he might be ready for office.

For the first time, the number of voters who believe Mr Dutton is ready to lead the country had outweighed those who thought he was not.

In recent months Mr Dutton has closed a 20-point gap against him of voters who thought he was not ready to govern.

But after shrinking to 9 per cent in April and 6 per cent in July, he’s closed the gap.

Mr Barry, a former Liberal strategist, said there were some ominous signs in the poll.

“With 48 per cent of voters believing Australia is on the wrong track, and a majority thinking the Prime Minister is focused on the wrong priorities, there is a very strong mood-for-change sentiment in the electorate,” he said.

“There is a growing cohort of Dutton-curious voters who are more prepared to accept the proposition that the Coalition are ready for government.”