approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, Essential Report, issues of importance, Network Ten
Q. Is the issue of how Australia handles asylum seekers more or less important than issues such as managing the economy, education and health services? (This question has been commissioned by Network Ten)
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Age
18-34 |
Aged
35-54 |
Aged 55+ | |
| Total more or equally important | 50% | 49% | 53% | 56% | 48% | 52% | 48% | 50% | 55% |
| A lot more important | 5% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 3% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 8% |
| A little more important | 5% | 6% | 5% | 3% | 6% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Equally important | 40% | 37% | 42% | 47% | 39% | 42% | 38% | 41% | 42% |
| A little less important | 21% | 22% | 21% | 22% | 18% | 24% | 25% | 19% | 20% |
| A lot less important | 23% | 23% | 25% | 19% | 28% | 18% | 20% | 26% | 23% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 6% | 1% | 4% | 4% | 6% | 8% | 6% | 2% |
50% think that the issue of how Australia handles asylum seekers is more/equally important as issues such as managing the economy, education and health services – 44% think it is less important.
There were not substantial differences across voter and other groups – although Greens voters (56%) and those aged 55+ (55%) were a little more likely to think it was important.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Malaysia, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. The Government has announced a possible agreement with Malaysia on asylum seekers. Under these agreements, asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia will be sent to Malaysia for processing, and in return Australia will take a fixed number of refugees from Malaysia. How much have you heard about this proposal?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| A lot | 27% | 24% | 34% | 27% |
| Something | 31% | 38% | 29% | 30% |
| A little | 29% | 28% | 29% | 28% |
| Nothing | 9% | 8% | 6% | 14% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
58% said they had heard a lot or something about the Government’s possible agreement with Malaysia on asylum seekers. Awareness was similar across voter groups.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, detention centres, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, processing centre for asylum seekers
Q. If Australia sends asylum seekers to Malaysia, how important are the following issues?
| Very important | Somewhat important | Not very important | Not at all important | Don’t know | |
| There must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment | 58% | 21% | 9% | 9% | 4% |
| There must be safeguards against the development of mental health problems in detention | 41% | 32% | 13% | 9% | 5% |
| The plan should have approval from the United Nations | 37% | 29% | 14% | 15% | 6% |
| All countries involved should be signatories to the United Nations Refugee Convention | 41% | 27% | 13% | 12% | 8% |
| Children arriving in Australia on their own should not be sent to other countries | 36% | 25% | 14% | 12% | 12% |
All issues were considered important by a majority of respondents. The most important issue concerning the proposal to send asylum seekers to Malaysia was that “there must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment” – 58% said this was very important.
There were major differences by gender – in particular on the issues that “there must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment” (very important – men 49%, women 66%) and “There must be safeguards against the development of mental health problems in detention” (very important – men 33%, women 49%)
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, climate change, Election Issues, Essential Report, fair industrial relations system, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, management of the economy, Nationals, political leadership, Polling, polls, population growth, protecting the environment, quality education for all children, quality of Australia’s health system, Security, taxation
Q. Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election?
| Total | Labor | Liberal/ National | Green | |
| Management of the economy | 61% | 60% | 76% | 28% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 26% | 29% | 24% | 27% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 49% | 50% | 50% | 51% |
| Protecting the environment | 15% | 17% | 10% | 52% |
| A fair industrial relations system | 8% | 12% | 4% | 4% |
| Political leadership | 17% | 16% | 20% | 16% |
| Addressing climate change | 15% | 23% | 6% | 45% |
| Controlling interest rates | 13% | 15% | 13% | 6% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 32% | 28% | 36% | 12% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 5% | 5% | 3% | 7% |
| Housing affordability | 16% | 16% | 13% | 16% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 17% | 14% | 19% | 16% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 8% | 4% | 13% | 1% |
| Treatment of asylum seekers | 5% | 3% | 5% | 12% |
| Managing population growth | 12% | 12% | 12% | 9% |
There were few substantial differences between voters on issues they considered important. Compared to the average, Labor voters are more likely to rate addressing climate change (23%) as important.
Liberal/National voters attach more importance to management of the economy (76%) and security and the war on terrorism (13%) while Greens voters are more likely to nominate protecting the environment (52%), addressing climate change (45%) and treatment of asylum seekers (12%).
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, Federal Labor Government, Greens, Labor, Liberal
Q. Do you think the Federal Labor Government is too tough or too soft on asylum seekers or is it taking the right approach?
| This week | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | 12 July 10 | 4 April 10 | ||
| Too tough | 7% | 9% | 3% | 28% | 10% | 6% | |
| Too soft | 63% | 49% | 83% | 33% | 56% | 65% | |
| Taking the right approach | 18% | 31% | 7% | 30% | 21% | 18% | |
| Don’t know | 12% | 10% | 7% | 9% | 13% | 11% |
63% of respondents believe that the Federal Labor Government is too soft on asylum seekers (up 7% since the last survey in July), 7% think they are too tough and 18% think they are taking the right approach.
Only 31% of Labor voters and 30% of Greens voters think the Government is taking the right approach.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, EMC, ER, essential report, Federal Government, Labor, Labor Party
Q. Thinking about the way the Federal Government has handled the asylum seeker issue recently, do you think they have been too tough, too weak or have they taken about the right approach?
| % | |
| Too tough | 9% |
| Too weak | 52% |
| Taken about the right approach | 28% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
Just over half (52%) think that the Federal Government has been too weak in how it has handled the asylum seeker issue recently, 28% think the Government have taken the right approach and 9% think they have been too tough.
Males were more likely than females to think the Federal Government has been too weak (55% v 49%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely than 18 – 24 year olds to think the Government’s action has been too weak (64% v 32%).
Labor voters were more likely to think the Federal Government has taken about the right approach (43%), Coalition voters were more likely to think the Government has been too weak (76%) and Green voters were more likely to think the Government’s approach has been too tough (33%).
43% of Labor voters think the Federal Government has been too weak in its handling of the asylum seeker issue recently.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum, asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, EMC, ER, essential report, Labor, Liberal
Q. Which party do you think would be best at handling the issue of asylum seekers?
| % | |
| Labor | 23% |
| Liberal | 27% |
| No difference | 37% |
| Don’t know | 13% |
27% of people surveyed think Liberal is the best party at handling the issue of asylum seekers, 23% think Labor is and 37% think there is no difference in how the two major parties would handle the issue.
Attitudes followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to prefer Liberal (65%) and Labor voters more likely to prefer Labor (65%).
54% of Green, 38% of Labor voters and 24% of Coalition voters think there is no difference between how Liberal or Labor would handle the issue of asylum seekers.
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think Liberal would be best (36% Liberal to 22% Labor), while people aged under 35 were more likely to think Labor would be best at handling the issue of asylum seekers (27% Labor to 20% Liberal).
Males were more likely to think Liberal would be the party best to handle the issue (31%), while females were more likely to think there is no difference (40%).