Albanese's Labor Party set to retain power with slim majority in Australian election

Australia’s  ruling  centre-left  Labor  party  could  retain  power  with a  slim  majority  after a national election on May 3, a widely-watched poll said on Monday, marking a reversal of sentiment from February, when voters wanted it out of office.

A Newspoll survey conducted for The Australian newspaper showed support for the Liberal-National opposition coalition has fallen below levels seen at the last election in 2022, while approval for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ticked up.

The election  could  also deliver a hung parliament with  Labor  likely forming a minority government, the poll said.

Labor  is ahead of the opposition 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis under  Australia’s  preferential voting system, where votes from minor parties are redistributed until a winner is elected.

Albanese’s approval rating has lifted to -4, aligning with an improvement in  Labor’s rise in support, from -20 in February, his worst as prime minister. He has also extended his lead as the preferred leader, while opposition leader Peter Dutton’s approval fell to among the worst of his term.

The poll, conducted among just under 1,300 voters, follows a week dominated by market turmoil triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, and after the opposition abandoned plans to force federal workers to return to full-time office working.

The United States, which enjoys a trade surplus with ally Australia, imposed a 10% “reciprocal” tariff, prompting Albanese to describe it as “not the act of a friend”.

The return-to-office policy was seized upon by  Labor, which said it would increase commuting costs in a campaign that has been dominated by cost-of-living concerns. It has also recently rolled out several measures aimed at pleasing families grappling with high living costs, lifting voter support.

Despite the recent surge in polling for him and his  Labor  party, Albanese on Monday downplayed the latest survey and said the campaign would be very close.

“We have a mountain to climb,” Albanese told reporters.

“I am certainly not getting ahead of myself. It’s hard to win an election if you look around the world, it has been a difficult time to be in government because of global inflation.”