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Aussie PM's approval rating rises after week of strong policy announcements

Xinhua, April 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

Following a week of strong policy announcements, Australia's Liberal-National Party (LNP) coalition government has regained ground on the opposition Labor Party, according to a latest public opinion poll.

Published by News Corp. on Monday, the latest Newspoll showed that the right-leaning government, led by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has narrowed the gap to just four points down from six points, with the government trailing the opposition 48-52 percent in the two-party preferred vote (after preferences).

In the primary vote (before preferences), the coalition has taken the lead over the Labor opposition, posting a 36 percent to 35 percent result, however it has been unable to recapture voters from the far-right One Nation Party, which maintained its shock 10 percent share.

Meanwhile, the Greens have 9 percent of the vote, while independent parties account for the remaining 10 percent.

The coalition's slight rise in popularity comes on the back of two policy announcements by the government.

Early last week, the government said it would abolish the nation's skilled foreign workers visa in favor of a stricter alternative, while later in the week, Turnbull announced a tougher citizenship test in order to make sure migrants and potential citizens adhere to "Australian values."

As a result of the tough reforms, Turnbull increased his lead as "preferred Prime Minister" over Opposition Leader Bill Shorten by one point, while both leaders experienced an increase in their net satisfaction rating; Turnbull's net satisfaction rating grew four points from -29 to -25, while Shorten's net satisfaction improved two point from -22 to -20. Endit