Tony Watch (3)

Given that there is currently not a single politician in Liberal or Nationals ranks who would make even a half-decent Australian prime minister, speculating on who might replace Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is to venture down into the dark pages of a horror story.

However, I’m willing to wager that the right-wing nutters currently infesting both parties will be whipped into a frenzy if polling numbers like those set out below continue.

Former Liberal prime minister John Anthony "Tony" Abbott was first out of the barrier with a 'helpful' comment to journalists. 

Skilfully he wielded a sharp blade by pointing out that his government's lowest polling occurred at after an "excellent" trip to Asia in 2014 to finalise the Japan free trade agreement and making "giant strides" towards one with China, then contrasting 
Turnbull's even lower polling as having come after what Tony reportedly described as a modest but significant move towards budget repair.

The  Australian reporting on Newspoll results, 26 September 2016:

The Coalition’s primary vote has tumbled below 40 per cent for the first time under Malcolm ­Turnbull’s prime ministership and is now lower than when Tony Abbott was dumped as leader a year ago.

The latest Newspoll, taken ­exclusively for The Australian, also reveals Labor has seized a two-party-preferred lead of 52 per cent to the Coalition’s 48 per cent — the opposition’s biggest lead since Mr Turnbull took power.

Mr Turnbull remains the preferred prime minister over Bill Shorten, but less than a third of voters are satisfied with his performance while more than a half are ­dissatisfied.

The poll of 1662 voters, taken from last Thursday to Sunday, shows the Coalition’s primary vote has fallen three points in the past fortnight to 38 per cent and is down four points since the election 12 weeks ago.

Aside from the post-election slump for Julia Gillard’s government, which took only three weeks to lose four points after the 2010 election, it is the quickest ­decline in primary vote by a re-elected government in the 32-year history of Newspoll.

In the final Newspoll under Mr Abbott’s leadership in September last year, the Coalition’s primary vote was 39 per cent. It peaked at 46 per cent under Mr Turnbull, was 42.1 per cent at the election and has now fallen to 38 per cent.

Support for Labor has risen one point in the past fortnight to a four-month high of 37 per cent, while the Greens have gained one point to 10 per cent and other parties and independents have climbed a combined one point to 15 per cent.

Based on preference flows from the July election, Labor has a two-party-preferred lead of 52 per cent to the Coalition’s 48 per cent…….

When Mr Turnbull launched his challenge against Mr Abbott, he cited the fact the Coalition had lost 30 consecutive Newspoll ­surveys.

Mr Turnbull has now been leader for 21 Newspoll surveys and the Coalition has won nine, Labor has won five and there have been seven tied.

Mr Turnbull’s own standing with voters has continued to fall to new lows. Satisfaction with his performance fell two points to 32 per cent and dissatisfaction rose two points to 55 per cent.

It leaves Mr Turnbull with a net satisfaction rating of minus 23 points, a deterioration of four points in the past fortnight and a 61-point drop from his honeymoon peak last November of plus 38 points.

Mr Shorten has a higher ­satisfaction rating of 36 per cent, up one point, and a lower dissatisfaction measure of 51 per cent, down one point.

The Labor leader’s net satisfaction rating has improved from minus 17 to minus 15 points.

The only measure where Mr Turnbull has consistently remained ahead of Mr Shorten is on the question of who is the better prime minister, where his support rose one point to 44 per cent while Mr Shorten gained two points to 33 per cent.

Mr Turnbull has lost 20 points since his peak of 64 per cent last December while Mr Shorten has more than doubled his support since reaching the equal-record low for a Labor leader of 14 per cent…..