Q. Would you favour fixed term Federal Elections where elections are held on a set date or the current system where the Government chooses the date of each election?

63% favour fixed term Federal Elections where elections are held on a set date and 23% favour the current system where the Government chooses the date of each election. There was majority support for fixed term elections across all demographic and voter groups. Strongest support came from older respondents with 73% of those aged 55+ preferring fixed term elections.

Q.  Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election?

*Not asked

62% of people surveyed rated management of the economy as one of their three most important issues, followed by 52% ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system, 40% Australian jobs and protection of local industries and 29% ensuring a quality education for all children.

Since November, there has been an increase in the importance of Australian jobs and protection of local industries (+8%) and a decline in the importance of ensuring a quality education for all children (-6%) and ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system (-5%).

Q.  Which party would you trust most to handle the following issues?

Note – Differences are calculated by subtracting Liberal % from Labor % – except for the two issues on which the Greens lead in which case it is Greens minus Liberal.

Labor has a significant lead over the  Liberal Party only on ensuring a fair industrial relations system. The Liberal Party has maintained strong leads on management of the economy, controlling interest rates, political leadership, security and the war on terrorism, treatment of asylum seekers and managing population growth.

There is little difference between Labor and the Liberals on ensuring a quality education for all children, ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system and protecting Australian jobs and protection of local industries. Since November, there has been very little shift on any issue.

Q. Which party do you think has the better policies for the following groups of people?

The Labor Party was thought to have better policies than the Liberal Party on all issues except “all working people” where both parties had similar ratings. In particular the Labor Party was thought to have better policies for people on low incomes (37% Labor/21% Liberal), unemployed people (34%/21%) and people with disabilities (35%/20%).

Of those aged 55+, 31% thought Labor had better policies for pensioners and 30% thought the Liberals had better policies.

32% think Labor has better policies for all working people and 31% think the Liberals have better policies. Employed people are more likely to think the Liberals have the better policies (35% Liberal/31% Labor).

Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?

Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?

Sample size = 1,928 respondents

NB.  The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from the first preference/leaning to voting questions.  Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results.  The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2010 election. These estimates have a confidence interval of approx. plus or minus 2-3%.

Q.The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced the Federal Election will be held on September 14 this year. Do you approve or disapprove of the election date being announced nearly 8 months in advance?

48% approve of the announcement of the next Federal election date and 34% disapprove. 73% of Labor voters approve compared to 45% of Greens voters and 35% of Liberal/National voters. 50% of Liberal/National voters disapprove.

There were no major differences by demographics – although men were a little more likely to approve (53%) and women a little more likely to disapprove (38%).

Q. Thinking about the Federal Government budget, how important do you believe it is for the budget to be in surplus…?

A clear majority of respondents (69%) regard having a Federal Government budget surplus to be important for the country as a whole, whereas a somewhat smaller majority regard it to be important for them personally (54%).

39% of respondents believe having a Federal Government budget surplus was not important for them personally.

Since this question was last asked in October, those who think a budget surplus is important for them personally has increased from 46% to 54%.

Those most likely to think a budget surplus is important to them personally were Liberal/National voters (67%) and full-time workers (60%).

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Government’s decision not to return the budget to surplus this financial year?

42% approve of the Government’s decision not to return the budget to surplus this financial year and 37% disapprove.

Those most likely to approve were Labor voters (64%), Greens voters (55%), men (51%), aged 55+ (50%) and people on incomes under $600pw (50%).

57% of Liberal/National voters disapprove.