Scott Morrison Tops List As Most Distrusted Politician In All Of Australia
Can't say we're surprised by the ranking.
Research from Roy Morgan has named Scott Morrison as the most distrusted politician in Australia, in a survey conducted in early March.
The ranking lists almost predominately Liberal politicians, aside from Craig Kelly and Pauline Hanson, with the Prime Minister being joined by his fellow Federal Cabinet Minister Barnaby Joyce and Peter Dutton as the second and third most distrusted politicians in Australia.
Conversely, Penny Wong took out first place in a survey ranking the politicians in Australia who had a positive net trust score, beating out Labor leader Anthony Albanese for the number one spot.
The report noted that public trust in the Australian government had “wildly fluctuated” in 2019 and 2020, with 2021 ending with “soaring levels of distrust”. Examples cited by researchers included ex-Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ sexual assault allegations as well as the government’s handling of the Delta strain of COVID-19 as key issues that damaged public trust.
While no matter how you serve it, the list of ten most distrusted politicians being populated almost entirely by Liberal politicians is an incredibly damning statement for the current government. However, the polarising results also speak to the sweeping pattern of government distrust that researchers note has been present since 2007.
Scott Morrison’s victory in the “un-winnable” election of 2019 actually marked a high point in public trust towards the government, after consecutive years of leadership spills on both sides of politics had eroded public trust.
Hypothesising about a Liberal loss in the next election, CEO of Roy Morgan Research Michelle Levine commented that Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s improvement in the public trust ranks – moving from 4th to 9th most distrusted – could benefit him in a leadership battle against Peter Dutton.
“With Peter Dutton the second most distrusted politician in Australia and Josh Frydenberg almost out of the top ten, this may well become crucial if the Coalition loses the May election and there’s a leadership battle between Frydenberg & Dutton,” said Levine. “Australian political contests are no longer purely won on trust, they are lost on distrust.”
Top Ten Untrusted Australian Politicians
- Scott Morrison
- Peter Dutton
- Barnaby Joyce
- Pauline Hanson
- Craig Kelly
- Dominic Perrottet
- Angus Taylor
- Michaelia Cash
- Josh Frydenburg
- Matthew Guy
Political Leaders With Net Trust Score
- Penny Wong
- Antony Albanese
- Tanya Plibersek
- Mark McGowan
- Jacqui Lambie
- Adam Bant