Anthony Albanese asked if he feels like a ‘fraud’ as approval rating sinks

Anthony Albanese has been asked if he feels “like a bit of a fraud” accepting an award for his international deeds while his personal approval rating at home plunges.

The Prime Minister is set to receive an Atlantic Council global citizen award in New York this week alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Formula 1 chief Stefano Domenicali and British actor Cynthia Erivo.

The awards recognise “the accomplishments of key global citizens seeking to improve the state of the world”.

But fronting press at the UN overnight, it was put to Mr Albanese that he had “screwed up” the response to the Bondi Beach terror attack and his approval rating was “one point shy of (former prime minister) Julia Gillard when you rolled her”.

Asked if he felt like a “fraud”, he replied, “No,” before moving on immediately.

The latest Newspoll, taken last week, found Labor’s core support slipped from 29 per cent to 27 per cent – its lowest in 14 years.

Mr Albanese’s perceived performance also took a hit, with his net approval rating at -27 and 35 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance, while 62 per cent were dissatisfied.

However, he did remain preferred prime minister, leading at 44 per cent to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s 32 per cent and Angus Taylor’s 24 per cent.

Cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek on Monday acknowledged that the results were “not great” and said the Albanese government must focus on easing cost of living ahead of the festive season.

“The polls are obviously not great, but we are not focused on the polling,” she told Seven’s Sunrise.

“What we’re focused on is making a real difference in people’s lives, and we know that they’re doing it tough.”

She said voters told her “all the time” that “they’re feeling pressure”.

Ms Plibersek said she was not frustrated by the polling but the issue beneath it.

“The issue here is people are obviously still feeling the pressure, and as a government, we need to focus on that,” she said.