Barnaby Joyce calls for clear policy lines after ‘brutal' Newspoll
The first Newspoll published since the federal election found the primary vote for the Coalition fell further from 31.8 per cent at the May 3 vote to just 29 per cent.
In worse news for Sussan Ley, she trailed Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister, with 32 per cent to the Labor leader's 52 per cent.
Though, her approval rating was 35 per cent – the typical mark for newly elected opposition leaders.
Mr Joyce, who was booted to the backbench after the Coalition's brief post-election break-up, said on Monday his side needed to be clear on where it stood on issues.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is trailing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister. Picture: Nikki Short / NewsWire
'They are brutal numbers,' he told Seven's Sunrise.
'I think the first thing you do is you be honest about them.'
He said the Coalition would need to be strategic with its approach to question time in parliament if it was going to claw back support.
'Let's be frank, any person in a lower house seat … wherever it is – Watson, Farrer, New England – if you had a 3 in front of your primary vote, you would be very, very worried,' Mr Joyce said.
'If you had a 2-3 in front of your vote, you would basically kiss yourself goodbye.'
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says the Coalition needs to find 'binary' issues to take Labor to task with. Picture: Martin Ollman / NewsWire
He said the Coalition needed 'to find issues which are binary, which you are fully for, and the Labor Party is fully against'.
'If you try and work on nuances and ameliorations and views of a different issue – that's no good,' Mr Joyce said.
'That's why such issues such as net zero, I say – find a point of division.
'You don't believe in net zero, they do believe in net zero.
'You believe in looking after pensioners and power prices, they believe in abiding by the Paris Agreement.
'But if you've got another way about it, they're your numbers.'
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