‘Loud and clear’: Frydenberg says government has heard Australians as polls dip

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has overtaken Scott Morrison as preferred Prime Minister.

The latest Newspoll also shows Labor leads the Coalition 51-49 on a two-party preferred basis.

It comes after the Prime Minister was heavily criticised for his initial response to the national bushfire crisis.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Heidi Murphy the government was taking that criticism on board.

“We’ve heard the message loud and clear from the Australian people,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“In these unprecedented bushfires, they expect a direct involvement from the federal government, which is different to what we’ve seen in the past.”

Federal intervention in natural disasters, including bushfires, is not unprecedented, although the scale of the government’s response has been significant.

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