Shorten rating tumbles in Newspoll

Under Labor’s plan a pack of cigarettes would cost $40.80 compared to the current $24.69 by 2020.

‘Malcolm Turnbull can only tell people what they want to hear for so long, soon the prime minister is going to have to unveil his plan, ‘ Labor frontbencher Amanda Rishworth told reporters in Canberra.

Smokers react to the federal government?s 25 per cent tax increase on cigarettes.

He wants details as to how much it would raise, the estimated reduction in the number of smokers and whether it was considered a regressive or progressive tax.

“Money that we want to put towards budget consolidation but also towards very important health initiatives”, Labor’s health spokeswoman Catherine King said. The third rise was in September this year and the final one comes next September.

The latest Newspoll showed that only 15 percent of Australians listed Shorten as their preferred prime minister, the lowest of any Opposition leader since Simon Crean in 2003, shortly before he was ousted as leader of the Labor party. But “while the excise and taxation contribution to cigarette costs have increased following Labor’s tobacco excise measures in office, they remain well below other comparable nations”, the opposition said. Turnbull’s better PM rating increased from 61% to 64%, while Shorten fell from 18% to 15%.

In contrast, Mr Turnbull has increased his personal standing, with 60 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance, up four points, while 22 per cent were dissatisfied, down two points.

The poll of 1573 people, conducted exclusively for The Australian newspaper, was conducted after Turnbull returned from overseas, where he attended three summits for world leaders.

Overall, the poll suggests the government maintains a 52-48 two-party-preferred lead over the ALP.

Government minister Jamie Briggs said voters had given up on listening to the negativity of Mr Shorten, telling Sky News the opposition leader had created a “great big hole of his own digging and his own making”.

The Newspoll shows the Coalition’s primary polling is steady at 46 per cent, while Labor is down one to 33 per cent. The Greens are up one point to 11 per cent.

If the poll result was replicated in an election, Labor would suffer a defeat of a similar magnitude to 2013.