EXCLUSIVE


Voters have turned on the O'Farrell government and are
threatening to throw it out of office after just one term in a dramatic
resetting of the political contest in NSW.
Three years after Barry O'Farrell was swept to power after
an historic rejection of the long-serving Labor government, the latest
Fairfax-Nielsen poll shows Labor is leading the Coalition 51 per cent to
49 per cent on a two-party preferred basis. The turnaround represents a
15 per cent swing since the March 2011 election and is the first time
Labor has led the Coalition since 2008.
Labor's primary vote, which crashed to an historic low of
25.6 per cent in 2011, has recovered to 35 per cent - an improvement of
12 points since the last Nielsen poll in March 2013.
The Coalition's primary vote has fallen to 40 per cent from
51.2 per cent at the last election - down 12 points since last year's
poll.
If the 15 per cent swing was applied uniformly across the
state it would see the Coalition lose up to 25 seats - wiping out gains
it made in western Sydney, the central coast and the Hunter three years
ago.