Sunrise host Natalie Barr confronts the Albanian government on the cost of living… trends now

Natalie Barr has confronted senior Albanian minister Tanya Plibersek about the government’s perceived lack of action to tackle the cost of living.

A new poll shows primary support for Labor has fallen to a new low of just 30 percent, below the party’s historically low voting levels in the 2022 election.

Meanwhile, the Resolve Strategic survey showed support for the coalition rose to 36 percent over the same period.

However, Albanese is still seen as the preferred prime minister by 41 percent of the public, compared to opposition leader Peter Dutton, who is on 32 percent.

The shift in public sentiment was largely due to concerns about the rising cost of living and the way it is affecting household budgets.

For example, 55 percent of the 1,610 people surveyed between April 17 and 21 said they would have trouble coming up with the money to pay for a major household expense of a few thousand dollars, such as a refrigerator or car repair.

Barr faced Environment Minister Plibersek on Monday and said: “That’s why they’re voting against your government. What is your answer?’

Ms Plibersek then cited a list of Labor policies aimed at helping people make ends meet, including “cutting electricity bills, lower childcare costs, cheaper medicines, making it cheaper and easier to see a doctor to go, extra paid parental leave, free TAFE, more support for affordable housing’ and lower taxes.

But the Sunrise presenter snapped back: ‘They (the voters) don’t actually believe you, do they?’

Ms Plibersek acknowledged that “people are taking it hard” before changing course and criticizing the previous coalition government and former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, with whom she acted.

“Barnaby’s gang said they want to keep wages lower. They said low wages are a conscious design feature of our economic architecture,” Ms. Plibersek said.

“We’re turning that around with higher wages, with people earning more and keeping more of what they earn, and other cost-of-living measures to help, with electricity, with childcare benefits, with all those things I mentioned.”

Mr Joyce argued that people were ‘better off’ under the previous government than under Labour, and that Anthony Albanese had ‘declined in popularity’.

“There are people who say, ‘I’m over it, I don’t want to listen to him anymore,’ because if you harp on about intermittent power, you’ll get ripped off

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