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  • Jan, 2013

    , , ,

    Approval of Tony Abbott

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?

     

    18 Jan

    2010

    5 Jul

     

    20 Dec

    14 Mar

    2011

    14 June

    12 Sept

    12 Dec

    12 Mar 2012

    12 Jun

    10 Sept

    10 Dec

    14 Jan 2013

    Total approve

    37%

    37%

    39%

    38%

    38%

    39%

    32%

    36%

    32%

    32%

    33%

    33%

    Total disapprove

    37%

    47%

    39%

    47%

    48%

    50%

    53%

    52%

    54%

    55%

    56%

    57%

    Strongly approve

    5%

    8%

    9%

    7%

    6%

    8%

    6%

    7%

    6%

    6%

    8%

    8%

    Approve

    32%

    29%

    30%

    31%

    32%

    31%

    26%

    29%

    26%

    26%

    25%

    25%

    Disapprove

    20%

    23%

    21%

    24%

    25%

    23%

    25%

    23%

    24%

    26%

    25%

    27%

    Strongly disapprove

    17%

    24%

    18%

    23%

    23%

    27%

    28%

    29%

    30%

    29%

    31%

    30%

    Don’t know

    26%

    16%

    22%

    16%

    15%

    11%

    14%

    12%

    13%

    13%

    12%

    10%

    33% (no change) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 57% (up 1%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -23 to -24 over the last 5 weeks.

    62% (down 1%) of Coalition voters approve and 31% (up 1%) disapprove.

    By gender – men 38% approve/53% disapprove, women 29% approve/60% disapprove. In net terms this represents a shift with men from -18 to -15 and with women from -28 to -31.

  • Jan, 2013

    , , , , ,

    Better Prime Minister

    Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?

     

    5 Jul 2010

    14 Mar 2011

    14 June

    12 Sept

    12 Dec

    12 Mar 2012

    12 Jun

    10 Sept

    10 Dec

    14 Jan 2013

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Julia Gillard

    53%

    44%

    41%

    36%

    39%

    40%

    37%

    40%

    43%

    42%

    89%

    5%

    84%

    Tony Abbott

    26%

    33%

    36%

    40%

    35%

    37%

    37%

    37%

    34%

    33%

    1%

    73%

    3%

    Don’t know

    21%

    23%

    24%

    24%

    26%

    23%

    26%

    24%

    23%

    24%

    10%

    22%

    14%

    42% (down 1%) believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 33% (down 1%) prefer Tony Abbott.

    Men prefer Julia Gillard 39%/38% and women prefer Julia Gillard 46%/29%.

  • Jan, 2013

    , , ,

    Voluntary voting

    Q. Voting in Federal and State elections in Australia is compulsory. Would you support or oppose making voting voluntary at Federal and State elections?

     

    Total

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Support

    40%

    34%

    43%

    40%

    Oppose

    49%

    56%

    49%

    53%

    Don’t know

    11%

    9%

    8%

    8%

    40% support making voting voluntary at Federal and State elections and 49% oppose.

    Highest support for voluntary voting was shown by Liberal/National voters (43%), respondents who don’t know which party they would vote for (48%), full-time workers (45%) and respondents aged 25-34 (49%).

    Highest opposition to voluntary voting was shown by Labor voters (56%), and respondents aged 55+ (58%).

  • Jan, 2013

    , , ,

    Likelihood of voting

    Q. If voting at elections was voluntary, how likely would you be to vote in the next Federal election?

     

    Total

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Would definitely vote

    58%

    61%

    67%

    67%

    Would probably vote

    25%

    25%

    23%

    23%

    Probably wouldn’t vote

    9%

    8%

    5%

    4%

    Definitely wouldn’t vote

    4%

    4%

    2%

    2%

    Don’t know

    5%

    2%

    3%

    3%

    If voting at elections was voluntary, 83% said they would definitely or probably vote in the next Federal election – 13% said they would probably or definitely not vote.

    Those least likely to vote were aged under 45 (17%) and respondents who did not know which party they would vote for (38%).

  • Jan, 2013

    , , , , ,

    Voting age

    Q. Would you support or oppose lowering the voting age from 18 to 16?

     

    Total

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Support

    13%

    17%

    10%

    24%

    Oppose

    78%

    71%

    85%

    64%

    No opinion

    9%

    11%

    4%

    12%

    Only 13% support lowering the voting age from 18 years to 16 years and 78% oppose.

    Support was highest among Greens voters (24%) and respondents aged 25-34 (25%).

  • Jan, 2013

    , , , , , ,

    Preferred voting system

    Q. Which of the following voting systems would you prefer when voting for the Federal House of Representatives.

    • A preferential voting system where voters rank all candidates in order of preference.
    • An optional preferential system where voters can rank one, some, or all candidates in order of preference.
    • A “first past the post” system, where voters only vote for one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins.
     

    11 Jul 11

    Total

    14 Jan 13

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Preferential

    22%

    23%

    29%

    20%

    32%

    Optional preferential

    26%

    25%

    26%

    23%

    43%

    First past the post

    44%

    44%

    40%

    52%

    24%

    Don’t know

    7%

    8%

    5%

    5%

    1%

    Of the three voting options given, 44% favoured “first past the post”, 25% optional preferential and 23% the current preferential system – almost no change since the question was last asked in July 2011.

    Optional preferential was most preferred by those aged under 35 (30%) while older groups strongly favoured first past the post (52% of aged 45+).

    “First past the post” was preferred by 52% Liberal/National voters and 43% of Greens voters preferred optional preferential.

  • Jan, 2013

    , , , , , , , , ,

    Leader Attributes – Julia Gillard

    Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard?

     

    5 Jul 10

    4 Oct 10

    7 Feb 11

    27 Jun 11

    2 Apr 12

    17 Sept 12

    14 Jan 13

    Change

    Intelligent

    87%

    81%

    75%

    73%

    61%

    68%

    72%

    +4%

    Hard-working

    89%

    82%

    76%

    75%

    65%

    69%

    72%

    +3%

    A capable leader

    72%

    59%

    52%

    42%

    38%

    43%

    50%

    +7%

    Arrogant

    37%

    39%

    44%

    48%

    53%

    46%

    47%

    +1%

    Out of touch with ordinary people

    35%

    44%

    50%

    60%

    65%

    56%

    53%

    -3%

    Understands the problems facing Australia

    68%

    55%

    52%

    44%

    41%

    43%

    47%

    +4%

    Visionary

    48%

    38%

    30%

    26%

    25%

    31%

    29%

    -2%

    Superficial

    51%

    52%

    54%

    46%

    46%

    Good in a crisis

    61%

    46%

    46%

    41%

    36%

    43%

    50%

    +7%

    Narrow-minded

    28%

    35%

    43%

    46%

    53%

    46%

    45%

    -1%

    More honest than most politicians

    45%

    37%

    37%

    29%

    26%

    31%

    30%

    -1%

    Trustworthy

    49%

    42%

    40%

    30%

    25%

    30%

    32%

    +2%

    Intolerant

    37%

    37%

    Aggressive

    42%

    46%

    +4%

    Erratic

    43%

    40%

    -3%

    Gillard’s key attributes were hard-working (72%), intelligent (72%), out of touch with ordinary people (53%), a capable leader (50%) and good in a crisis (50%).    Almost all positive leader attributes for Gillard moved up from the last time the question was polled in September 2012.   The biggest shifts on the positive attributes were on a capable leader (+7%) and good in a crisis (+7%).

  • Jan, 2013

    , , , , , , , , ,

    Leader Attributes – Tony Abbott

    Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?

     

    5 Jul 10

    4 Oct 10

    7 Feb 11

    27 Jun 11

    2 Apr 12

    17 Sept 12

    14 Jan 13

    Change

    Intelligent

    70%

    71%

    64%

    61%

    56%

    62%

    64%

    +2%

    Hard-working

    76%

    78%

    72%

    75%

    68%

    67%

    70%

    +3%

    A capable leader

    47%

    52%

    48%

    45%

    41%

    37%

    43%

    +6%

    Arrogant

    59%

    60%

    58%

    60%

    61%

    63%

    61%

    -2%

    Out of touch with ordinary people

    57%

    53%

    54%

    57%

    54%

    57%

    54%

    -3%

    Understands the problems facing Australia

    50%

    53%

    50%

    48%

    49%

    43%

    47%

    +4%

    Visionary

    32%

    31%

    27%

    27%

    26%

    29%

    28%

    -1%

    Superficial

    45%

    49%

    49%

    51%

    48%

    -3%

    Good in a crisis

    40%

    42%

    41%

    40%

    36%

    35%

    39%

    +4%

    Narrow-minded

    56%

    53%

    51%

    54%

    54%

    59%

    56%

    -3%

    More honest than most politicians

    33%

    32%

    31%

    32%

    30%

    27%

    29%

    +2%

    Trustworthy

    33%

    35%

    34%

    32%

    32%

    30%

    33%

    +3%

    Intolerant

    53%

    49%

    -4%

    Aggressive

    59%

    55%

    -4%

    Erratic

    51%

    51%

    Abbott’s key attributes were hard-working (70%), intelligent (64%), arrogant (61%), narrow-minded (56%), aggressive (55%) and out of touch with ordinary people (54%).

    Since September last year, Tony Abbott has improved his ratings a little on most positive attributes – the biggest shift being for a capable leader (+6%).

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