Labor has increased its lead to 54-46 in the latest Newspoll, as record COVID-19 cases keep millions of Australians in lockdown.

The result of the exclusive survey commissioned for The Australian newspaper and released on Sunday night found popular support for the Coalition had fallen to its lowest level since the Morrison government was elected in May 2019.

Surveying 1528 voters across metropolitan and regional Australia between Wednesday and Saturday, Newspoll found the Coalition’s primary vote falling three points to 36 per cent as Labor increased to 40 per cent.

The Greens fell a point to 10 per cent and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation remained firm at 3 per cent – equalling their performance at the last election.

#BREAKING: Support for the federal Coalition has fallen to its lowest level this term, after a swing to fringe minor parties, but Scott Morrison’s popularity has lifted #Newspoll https://t.co/NkmZ4PcHXr pic.twitter.com/vy0OdnY4rt

— The Australian (@australian) August 29, 2021

The largest movement in voter intention aside from the loss of support for the Coalition was a corresponding three-point rise to 11 per cent among those claiming to support independents and other minor or fringe parties.

It is the Liberals and Nationals’ lowest primary vote since March 2019 and two percentage points less than its election win.

In contrast, Labor reached its highest potential primary vote since 2018, up 6.5 per cent from the 2019 election.

Newspoll provides more evidence preferred prime minister is irrelevant to who would win an election. 54/46 Labor’s way would be a wipeout.

— Paul Bongiorno (@PaulBongiorno) August 29, 2021

When converted to a two-party-preferred result, the 54-46 finding means Labor leads the Coalition by its largest margin since before the last election.

In the only bright spot for the government, Scott Morrison lifted as the preferred Prime Minister over Anthony Albanese.

Mr Morrison lifted a point (50 per cent), compared to a two-point fall for Mr Albanese (34 per cent).