Australian PM on track to win re-election: poll

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his governing Labor Party are on track to win a second term in power in May's general election, according to a new poll on Sunday.

The Labor Party is likely to win 75 out of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament at the May 3 election, just short of the 76 required to form a majority government, showed the poll released by the Australian branch of the UK-based market research firm YouGov.

If neither Labor nor the opposition coalition — led by Peter Dutton — win at least 76 seats it the election, both Albanese and Dutton will enter negotiations with minor parties and independents for their support to form a minority government.

The poll of 38,629 voters, which was published on the second day of the election campaign, suggested that the opposition coalition is most likely to win 60 seats, with minor parties and independents — known as the crossbench — on track to win 15.

That result would leave the opposition coalition without a path to form a minority government, with Albanese needing the support of only one crossbench member to become the first leader of either major party to win consecutive elections since 2004.

The previous edition of the YouGov poll released in mid-February projected that the opposition coalition was on track to win 73 seats — up from the 53 it currently holds — and Labor 66.

Paul Smith, director of public data at YouGov, described the shift in support as "decisive."

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the shift of voters away from the opposition coalition could be partly attributed to "very unpopular" policies such as Dutton's plan to reduce government spending by cutting public service jobs.

"Dutton needed to win working-class votes in outer suburban Sydney and Melbourne, but his Trump-style policies of ending work from home and cutting 40,000 public servants have seen his support dramatically impacted," Smith said.

Campaigning in Canberra on Sunday, Albanese promised that a re-elected Labor government would introduce new laws to ban supermarkets from engaging in price gouging practices.

Several polls have identified the cost-of-living as one of voters' top election issues.

Albanese said that supermarkets could face "heavy fines" under the planned crackdown, declaring that it would "certainly have an impact" on prices based on similar laws in the European Union.

"Australian families deserve a fair price at the checkout and Australian farmers deserve a fair price for their goods," he told reporters.

Asked about the relationship with the United States during an appearance on ABC television, Albanese said he believes Australia can "rely" on President Donald Trump but that the government would continue to advocate for free and fair trade.

Labor has committed to increasing Australia's spending on defense to 2.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2034 — up from 2.0 percent currently — but has been asked by the Trump administration to set a 3.0 percent target.

Albanese said on Sunday that there is no "magic figure" he would like to reach, saying that assets are a more important indicator.

Also appearing on ABC television, oppposition coalition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson said that the opposition would increase defense spending beyond 2.3 percent of GDP, with a specific target to be announced before the election.