Newspoll is an Australian opinion polling brand, published by The Australian and administered by international market research and data analytics group, YouGov. Newspoll has a long tradition of accuracy with regard to predicting Australian Federal Election results. Until May 2015, Newspoll was a market research and polling company, part owned by News Corp Australia. Its founding Managing Director was Solomon Lebovic who led the company from 1985 to 2005. Martin O'Shannessy was CEO since late 2005 until the dissolution of Cudex, the joint venture company running Newspoll. While the former Newspoll was well known for political polling, over 90% of its activities were in commercial market research. In May 2015 administration of Newspoll was transferred to Galaxy Research. In December 2017, Galaxy Research was acquired by YouGov. Newspoll's surveys of voting intention are published exclusively in The Australian. In addition, many organisations from both sides of the political divide and within the business community commissioned public opinion polling from the former Newspoll. Newspoll was established in 1985 as a joint venture between News Limited and Yann Campbell Hoare Wheeler, which later was purchased by Millward Brown during the 1990s leading to the current ownership structure. In 2015 this company was wound up with The Australian announcing that henceforth Newspoll would become a polling brand administered by Galaxy. The transfer of operation to Galaxy came with a significant change in polling methods, from live telephone interviews to a mix of online and automated telephone interviews.However, the wording of Newspoll questions remained the same. In the first major test of this methodology, Newspoll conducted by Galaxy Research was the most accurate national published poll at the 2016 Australian Federal Election. A further change occurred in November 2019, with YouGov switching to entirely online polling.
The lists below show the Prime Ministers with the highest and lowest career ratings. In many cases the highest and second-highest or lowest and second-lowest ratings are held by the same Prime Minister.
has the highest career-peak approval rating, with 71%.
Scott Morrison has the second-highest career-peak approval rating, with 68%
John Howard has the third-highest career-peak approval rating, with 67% .
Bob Hawke's highest approval rating was 62%, but Newspoll did not poll until over two years after he became Prime Minister.
Lowest approval rating
has the lowest recorded approval rating, of 17%.
Julia Gillard has the second-lowest career-low approval rating, of 23%.
Tony Abbott has the third-lowest career-low approval rating, of 24%.
Highest dissatisfied rating
Paul Keating has the highest recorded "dissatisfied" rating, with 75%.
Julia Gillard has the second-highest career-peak "dissatisfied" rating, with 68%.
Tony Abbott has the equal second-highest career-peak "dissatisfied" rating, with 68%.
Highest "Better Prime Minister" score
Until mid-1991, "Better Prime Minister" ratings were only surveyed during election campaigns. Kevin Rudd has the highest "Better Prime Minister" score, with 73%.
John Howard has the second-highest career-peak "Better Prime Minister" score, with 67%.
Bob Hawke has the third-highest career-peak "Better Prime Minister" score, with 62%.
Lowest "Better Prime Minister" score
Paul Keating has the lowest "Better Prime Minister" score, with 27%.
Tony Abbott has the second-lowest career-low "Better Prime Minister" score, with 30%.
John Howard has the third-lowest career-low "Better Prime Minister" score, with 31%.
Opposition Leader polling
Note: The lists below show the Opposition Leaders with the highest and lowest career ratings. In many cases the highest and second-highest or lowest and second-lowest ratings are held by the same Opposition Leader. For instance, 14% is not the second-lowest "Better Prime Minister" score ever recorded, since Brendan Nelson recorded ten scores of below 14%.
Highest approval rating
Kevin Rudd has had the highest recorded approval rating, of 68%.
Mark Latham has the second-highest career-peak approval rating, of 66%.
John Hewson has the third-highest career-peak approval rating, of 55%.
