Voters have condemned the Albanese government’s handling of immigration policy, with 54 per cent agreeing the government is running the portfolio in an “unplanned and unmanaged way” even as Labor prepares to unveil in the next fortnight tougher rules on visa overstayers and dodgy asylum claims.

But the government will be buoyed by 60 per cent of voters supporting lower house prices, while nearly twice as many people back Labor’s changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing as oppose them, according to the latest Resolve Political Monitor.

Concern about the cost of living has fallen significantly, by 9 points to 36 per cent, the lowest level since February 2023, though the issue still remains voters’ No.1 concern by a considerable margin.

But after a week in which the prime minister was subjected to heavy criticism for seemingly joking about the Japanese prime minister’s personal appearance, there was little change to the major parties’ or leaders’ standing.

Core support for Labor, the Coalition and One Nation remained unchanged over the last month, with the government recording a primary vote of 28 per cent, the opposition steady on 23 per cent and Pauline Hanson’s party on 26 per cent.

The findings are contained in the Resolve Political Monitor conducted for this masthead from August 9 to 15. More than 2200 voters were surveyed, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 per cent.

While 54 per cent of people marked Labor down for its handling of immigration, 26 per cent said the government was handling Australia’s immigration program in a carefully planned and managed way. Twenty per cent were undecided. Strong majorities of Coalition, One Nation and even Greens voters marked down Labor’s performance in the portfolio.

At the same time, 35 per cent of voters said Hanson’s party was best placed to manage immigration and refugees, while 23 per cent backed Labor and just 17 per cent backed the Coalition.

The findings come after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke delayed an appearance at the National Press Club in which he was expected to unveil an immigration crackdown, amid concerns from cabinet colleagues that his proposal needed more work and had unanswered questions about costs.

Asked on Sunday when he would outline changes to immigration policy following the delay to his speech, Burke said “we’re talking about a cabinet process” and declined to comment further. The speech and policy shift are expected in the next fortnight.

The most recent May budget forecast suggested net overseas migration would fall to 225,000 by 2027-28, while Liberal housing spokesman Andrew Bragg suggested a future Coalition government would cut the figure to 180,000 – a suggestion that led to his being counselled by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor. One Nation wants to cut the rate to 130,000 a year.

The findings also underscore Australians’ broader discomfort with immigration, with 57 per cent of voters saying immigration was too high, 28 per cent saying it was about right and just 4 per cent saying current rates are too low. That is a rise of 8 per cent in people saying immigration is too high since September 2025.

On the government’s changes to the tax system, which constitute a broken promise from Albanese, 35 per cent backed Labor’s policy of stopping the current 50 per cent discount on capital gains tax payable when investments are sold, while 21 per cent of people opposed it and 44 per cent said they were undecided or neutral.

It was a similar story on restricting negative gearing to new properties only, with 35 per cent backing the move, 20 per cent opposing it and 45 per cent undecided. Sixty per cent of voters said they supported lower house prices, 10 per cent opposed lower prices and almost a third were undecided or neutral.

Resolve pollster Jim Reed said Labor “simply aren’t getting credit for falling home values because they’ve refused to own that outcome, and drops in bowser prices are seen as at the whim of international events.

“It seems strange that the government would not take a bow for taking some of the investor heat out of the housing market, and only take the pain of the broken promise, but who knows where this goes.”

The decision to end the halved fuel excise discount does not appear to have damaged the government electorally, with petrol prices remaining below the peaks reached earlier this year and a number of cost-of-living relief measures starting on July 1.

When asked about their No.1 policy priority, 36 per cent nominated the cost of living, down from 45 per cent last month.

While it is too early to say if voters’ diminishing concern about the cost of living is a trend, the big movement down in concern over one month – well outside the margin of error – will be welcomed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government.

The findings come after a warning from ANZ economists that house prices could fall by 15 per cent over this year and next, and after RBA governor Michele Bullock warned last week that the bank was willing to keep raising interest rates to curb inflation.

In the preferred prime minister ratings, Albanese leads with 32 per cent of the vote, down 1 point on last month, while Hanson moved up 1 point and remains in second place on 26 per cent. Twenty-three per cent of voters said they were undecided, while Taylor was down 2 points and languishing on just 19 per cent.

But Taylor outperformed Albanese when voters were asked to rate his performance, with a net score of plus 8 percentage points.

In contrast, Albanese’s ratings suggest the prime minister has become an increasingly polarising, love-or-hate figure.

Just 37 per cent of voters said the prime minister was doing a good or very good job, 53 per cent said his performance was poor or very poor – for a net score of minus 16 percentage points – with 10 per cent of people undecided.

Hanson’s ratings were similarly polarising. A solid 46 per cent of those surveyed said the One Nation leader was doing a good or very good job, 41 per cent said she was doing a poor or very poor job – a net score of plus 5 percentage points – while just 14 per cent were undecided.

Reed said people either loved or hated Albanese and Hanson, but for very different reasons.

“Taylor remains less of a known quantity. He’s not hated by any means, but many voters are yet to make up their minds. Hanson is being rewarded for raising issues in plain terms, but whether you agree with her take on those issues is another thing,” he said.

“The biggest problem for the prime minister is now a trust deficit, rather than inaction. It may be naive, but we still expect our leaders to stick to their word come what may.”

On the likeability ratings, Albanese’s remains solidly in negative territory – where it has been since January 2026 – on minus 14 per cent, a 1 point improvement on last month. Taylor’s rating is plus 7 per cent, down 1 point on last month but still the highest score of any politician, while Hanson’s is plus 4 per cent, having fallen 10 percentage points since June.

Taylor is comfortably ahead as preferred Liberal leader, with 30 per cent of voters nominating him, 10 per cent choosing leadership aspirant Andrew Hastie and 5 per cent choosing shadow treasurer Tim Wilson. A whopping 56 per cent of people were undecided.

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James Massola is chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and South-East Asia correspondent. He has won Quill and Kennedy awards and been a Walkley finalist. Connect securely on Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect via X or email.