Only a third of Australians have confidence in Morrison government, survey finds

Roughly one in three Australians have confidence in the Morrison government, which is the lowest approval since the 2019-20 summer bushfires, according to a survey.

The longitudinal survey of 3,472 Australians was conducted in the final two weeks of January, as the Omicron wave and eased restrictions resulted in some days with more than 100,000 new Covid cases, and new records for the deadliest days.

The result is only slightly higher than the low of 27.3% recorded during the 2019-20 bushfires.

Confidence also declined in the public service, down to 57.6%, and in state and territory governments, down to 52.3%, but these institutions were still rated higher than the federal government.

Between October 2021 and January 2022 satisfaction in the direction of the country fell to 63.6%, about the same level as the Delta wave of Covid in mid-2021.

In February Morrison started the political year in an appearance at the National Press Club in which he offered an apology, of sorts, for the handling of the pandemic.