Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Turnbull dithering, Shorten weak: voters

New focus group research provides a less-than-stellar report card for the prime minister and opposition leader.

Bill Shorten Maclolm Turnbull campaing selfie
Selfie time: Malcolm Turnbull in Brisbane and Bill Shorten in Dawson (near Mackay). Source: AAP

Malcolm Turnbull once looked the part but now he's just the man with a feather in his cap.

And Bill Shorten's an out-of-his-depth "puppet".

That's how western Sydney voters perceive the two leaders vying for the nation's top job in new focus group research.

The data from consultancy Visibility, published by Fairfax Media, provides a less-than-stellar report card for the prime minister and opposition leader.

Voters in the key marginal seat of Lindsay who switched from Labor to Liberal at the last election were asked last week for their views.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Some of them rated Mr Turnbull when he took over the Liberal leadership last year as "confident, successful businessman, articulate, successful, intelligent and looking the part".

But now they describe the prime minister as "dithering, no action, just an ego trip, though he was going to be good and feather in his cap".

Mr Shorten was described as: "out of his depth", "not a leader", "weak and puppet".

Cabinet minister Josh Frydenberg came out to bat for his leader pointing to polls showing Mr Turnbull leading as preferred prime minister.

But he conceded some people were switching off thanks to the long election campaign.

"I feel voters aren't as engaged as they normally would be over a 33-day campaign," he told ABC TV.


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world