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  • Apr, 2011

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    Attributes of the Labor Party

    Q. Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various political parties. Which statements do you feel fit the Labor Party?

    6 Jul 09 14 Mar 10

    27 April 11

    % change
    Will promise to do anything to win votes 57% 63% 72% +9%
    Divided 30% 36% 66% +30%
    Out of touch with ordinary people 44% 48% 61% +13%
    Moderate 65% 63% 51% -12%
    Too close to the big corporate and financial interests 46% n.a.
    Have a vision for the future 43% n.a.
    Understands the problems facing Australia 62% 54% 40% -14%
    Looks after the interests of working people 39% n.a.
    Extreme 25% 26% 38% +12%
    Has a good team of leaders 60% 52% 34% -18%
    Clear about what they stand for 28% n.a.
    Keeps its promises 44% 33% 20% -13%

    The Labor Party’s main attributes were – will promise anything to win votes (63%), divided (66%) and out of touch with ordinary people (61%).
    Since these questions were last asked in March 2010, all of Labor’s positive attributes have declined and the negative attributes increased. Main changes since last March were divided (up 30% to 66%), has a good team of leaders (down 18% to 34%) and understands the problems facing Australia (down 14% to 40%).

    Note that the 2PP voting intention for 14 March 2010 was 56%-44% to Labor compared to the current 46%-54%.

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  • Apr, 2011

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    Party Attributes Comparison – Labor vs Liberal

    Labor Liberal

    % difference
    Divided 66% 49% +17%
    Will promise to do anything to win votes 72% 65% +7%
    Out of touch with ordinary people 61% 54% +7%
    Extreme 38% 36% +2%
    Looks after the interests of working people 39% 38% +1%
    Moderate 51% 55% -4%
    Have a vision for the future 43% 48% -5%
    Has a good team of leaders 34% 40% -6%
    Understands the problems facing Australia 40% 51% -11%
    Keeps its promises 20% 33% -13%
    Too close to the big corporate and financial interests 46% 60% -14%
    Clear about what they stand for 28% 44% -16%

    When these questions were last asked in March 2010, the Labor Party had significant leads over the Liberal Party on all positive attributes.

    For this survey, the only attribute on which there is any significant advantage for the Labor Party is  “too close to the big corporate and financial interests” (Labor 46%/Liberals 60%).

    The Liberal Party is seen more favourably in terms of being divided, clear about what they stand for, keeps it promises and understands the problems facing Australia.

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  • Apr, 2011

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    Green-baiting and the art of product differentiation

    First published on The Drum: 12/04/2011

    The Prime Minister has been dedicating a significant slice of stump time in recent weeks to explaining the differences between the ALP and the Greens, how one emerges from real-world struggles and the other is a group of out-of-touch extremists.

    A similar debate has been being waged within the Greens following their underwhelming NSW state election performance, where a local candidate’s intervention in the Middle East peace provided the platform to portray the party as a collective of bat-faced ideologues.

    But as the debate about the Greens’ orientation gains pertinence as they move to assume the balance of power in the Senate a more basic fact is being missed: Labor voters and Green voters agree on just about everything.

    A review of findings to Essential Research questions over the past few months finds that on nearly every big debate the similarities between Greens voters and Labor voters far outweigh their differences.

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  • Apr, 2011

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    Difference between Labor and Greens Policies

    Q. How much difference do you think there is between the policies of the Labor Party and the Greens?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    They are completely different 8% 10% 10% 12%
    Different on most issues 15% 15% 16% 26%
    Different of some and similar on some 41% 54% 33% 47%
    Similar on most issues 14% 7% 22% 8%
    They are exactly the same 5% 2% 7% 1%
    Don’t know 17% 13% 13% 5%

    19% think the Labor and Greens policies are similar or exactly the same, 23% think they are mostly or completely different and 41% think they are different on some and the similar on some issues.

    Labor voters are more likely to think they are different on some and similar on some (54%), Liberal/National voters more likely to think they are similar or the same (29%) and Greens voters more likely to think they are different (38%).

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  • Mar, 2011

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    Approval of Julia Gillard

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

    Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
    31 May

    2010

    5 Jul 19 Jul 16 Aug 20 Sep 18 Oct 22 Nov 20 Dec 17 Jan 2011 14 Feb 14 Mar
    Total approve 41% 48% 52% 46% 45% 45% 43% 43% 51% 48% 41%
    Total disapprove 47% 27% 30% 40% 37% 37% 38% 40% 36% 41% 46%
    Strongly approve 7% 14% 11% 13% 12% 10% 7% 10% 8% 9% 7%
    Approve 34% 34% 41% 33% 33% 36% 36% 33% 43% 39% 34%
    Disapprove 25% 13% 17% 24% 21% 20% 23% 24% 24% 25% 22%
    Strongly disapprove 22% 14% 13% 16% 16% 17% 15% 16% 12% 16% 24%
    Don’t know 12% 26% 18% 13% 19% 18% 18% 17% 14% 11% 13%

    41% (down 7%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 46% (up 5%) disapprove – a change in net rating from +7 to -5 over the last 4 weeks.

    87% of Labor voters approve and 7% disapprove.

    By gender – men 41% approve/49% disapprove, women 42% approve/43% disapprove.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd

    Q. Do you think that Julia Gillard has been a better or a worse leader than Kevin Rudd?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total better 28% 47% 13% 30%
    Total worse 33% 18% 48% 35%
    A lot better 7% 15% 2% 3%
    A little better 21% 32% 11% 27%
    No difference 33% 32% 37% 30%
    A little worse 15% 10% 17% 23%
    A lot worse 18% 8% 31% 12%
    Don’t know 6% 3% 2% 5%

    Overall, respondents were split over whether Julia Gillard has been a better or worse leader than Kevin Rudd – 28% thought she had been better, 33% worse and 33% no different.

    Labor voters were more likely to think she had been better (47%/18%) while Liberal/National voters though she had been worse (13%/48%). Greens voters were split 30% better/35% worse and 30% no different.

    By gender – men split 24% better/37% worse compared to women 31% better/29% worse.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Approval of Julia Gillard

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

    Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
    31 May 5 Jul 19 Jul 16 Aug 20 Sep 18 Oct 22 Nov 20 Dec 17 Jan 2011 14 Feb 2011
    Total approve 41% 48% 52% 46% 45% 45% 43% 43% 51% 48%
    Total disapprove 47% 27% 30% 40% 37% 37% 38% 40% 36% 41%
    Strongly approve 7% 14% 11% 13% 12% 10% 7% 10% 8% 9%
    Approve 34% 34% 41% 33% 33% 36% 36% 33% 43% 39%
    Disapprove 25% 13% 17% 24% 21% 20% 23% 24% 24% 25%
    Strongly disapprove 22% 14% 13% 16% 16% 17% 15% 16% 12% 16%
    Don’t know 12% 26% 18% 13% 19% 18% 18% 17% 14% 11%

    48% (down 3%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 41% (up 5%) disapprove – a change in net rating from +15 to +7 over the last 4 weeks.

    88% of Labor voters approve and 8% disapprove.

    By gender – men 45% approve/45% disapprove, women 51% approve/36% disapprove.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Attributes to describe the Prime Minister

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

    5 Jul 10 4 Oct 10 7 Feb 11 Difference
    Intelligent 87% 81% 75% -6%
    Hard-working 89% 82% 76% -6%
    A capable leader 72% 59% 52% -7%
    Arrogant 37% 39% 44% +5%
    Out of touch with ordinary people 35% 44% 50% +6%
    Understands the problems facing Australia 68% 55% 52% -3%
    Visionary 48% 38% 30% -8%
    Superficial 51% *
    Good in a crisis 61% 46% 46%
    Narrow-minded 28% 35% 43% +8%
    More honest than most politicians 45% 37% 37%
    Trustworthy 49% 42% 40% -2%

    Julia Gillard’s key attributes were hard-working (76%) and intelligent (75%).

    Major changes since this question was asked in October 2010 were increases of 8% for narrow-minded (to 43%) and 6% for out of touch (to 50%) and decreases for visionary (down 8% to 30%), a capable leader (down 7% to 52%), intelligent (down 6% to 75%) and hard-working (down 6% to 76%).

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