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  • Aug, 2011

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    Tony Abbott’s belief in Climate Change

    Q. What do you think Tony Abbott actually believes about climate change?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Does not believe in climate change 19% 28% 14% 34%
    Does believe in climate change 27% 13% 46% 8%
    Doesn’t care whether climate change is real or not 31% 48% 17% 42%
    Don’t know 22% 11% 22% 16%

    31% of respondents think that Tony Abbott doesn’t care whether climate change is real or not, 27% think he believes in climate change and 19% think he doesn’t.

    46% of Liberal/National voters think he believes in climate change compared to only 13% of Labor voters and 8% of Greens voters. 34% of Greens voters think he does not believe in climate change and 48% of Labor voters think he doesn’t care whether climate change is real or not.

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  • Aug, 2011

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    Support for Sending Asylum Seekers to Malaysia

    Q. The Government has recently made an agreement to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia for processing, and in return Australia will take a fixed number of refugees from Malaysia. Do you support or oppose this agreement?

    16 June 11 Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total support 40% 31% 50% 25% 19%
    Total oppose 39% 53% 31% 67% 60%
    Strongly support 13% 6% 9% 4% 3%
    Support 27% 25% 41% 21% 16%
    Oppose 22% 23% 17% 24% 35%
    Strongly oppose 17% 30% 14% 43% 25%
    Don’t know 21% 16% 18% 9% 21%

    31% support the agreement to send asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing and 53% oppose. This represents a significant increase in opposition to this scheme from that recorded 6 weeks ago – support is down 9% and opposition up 14%.

    This shift is mainly due to changed opinions of Liberal/National voters. Support from Labor voters is up 3% to 50% while opposition from Liberal/National voters has increased by 22% to 67%. Opposition from Greens voters has also increased by 9% to 60%.

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  • Aug, 2011

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    Trust in organisations to handle personal information

    Q. Thinking about your personal information that you sometimes have to give to organisations and companies, how much trust do you have in following organisations to handle your personal information appropriately?

    A lot of trust Some trust Little trust No trust Don’t know
    The medical profession 39% 40% 12% 7% 2%
    Banks 19% 40% 27% 13% 2%
    Governments 12% 38% 28% 20% 2%
    Australian companies 6% 43% 35% 13% 2%
    On-line companies 2% 25% 41% 29% 3%
    Political parties 2% 20% 34% 40% 4%
    Foreign companies 1% 18% 36% 41% 4%
    The media 2% 14% 35% 47% 2%

    Of the organisations measured, the medical profession is the most trusted to handle personal information (79% a lot/some trust). Banks (59%) are trusted more that Governments (50%) or Australian companies (49%).

    The media are the least trusted with 82% saying they have little or no trust in them.

    People aged under 35 tend to be more trustful with their personal information – especially with Governments (58% a lot/some trust), banks (69%) and on-line companies (35%).

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  • Jul, 2011

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    Involvement in Religious Activities

    Q. Thinking about your involvement (if any) in religious activities – over the last five years have you –
    (This question was commissioned by Network Ten)

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Men Women Age

    18-34

    Aged

    35-54

    Aged 55+
    Participated more in religious activities 10% 10% 11% 3% 7% 12% 10% 10% 8%
    Participated less in religious activities 7% 8% 7% 4% 7% 7% 14% 4% 3%
    Participated about the same 25% 22% 27% 24% 24% 26% 22% 29% 24%
    Not participated at all in religious activities 55% 59% 52% 67% 58% 52% 49% 54% 64%
    Don’t know 3% 1% 2% 2% 3% 3% 5% 3% 1%

    10% say they have participated more in religious activities over the last 5 years and 7% have participated less. 25% say their participation has not changed and 55 have not participated in religious activities at all.

    Women (12%) were more likely to have participated more and those aged under 35 more likely to have participated less (14%).

    Older respondents were most likely not to have participated at all (64%).

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  • Jul, 2011

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    Federal politics – voting intention

    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 = 1926

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 45% 47% 46% 45%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6 48% 50% 49% 48%
    Labor 38.0 32% 30% 31% 32%
    Greens 11.8 11% 11% 11% 11%
    Other/Independent 6.6 9% 9% 9% 9%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 55% 57% 56% 55%
    Labor 50.1% 45% 43% 44% 45%

    NB.  The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived 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.

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  • Jul, 2011

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    Overturning the Carbon Pricing Scheme

    Q. If the Government introduces their carbon pricing scheme Tony Abbott has said that if the Liberal Party wins the next election he will repeal this legislation. Do you support or oppose his proposal to overturn the carbon pricing scheme after it has been put in place?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total support 50% 24% 81% 15%
    Total oppose 36% 63% 9% 73%
    Strongly support 30% 8% 56% 8%
    Support 20% 16% 25% 7%
    Oppose 14% 19% 7% 12%
    Strongly oppose 22% 44% 2% 61%
    Don’t know 15% 13% 9% 10%

    Overall, 50% of respondents support Tony Abbott’s proposal to overturn the carbon pricing scheme after it has been put in place.

    Not surprisingly 81% of Lib/Nat voters support Tony Abbott’s proposal. 63% of Labor voters, and 73% of Green voters oppose Tony Abbott’s proposal.

    Support for Tony Abbott’s proposal increased with age, with 63% of those aged 65+, compared to 36% of those aged 18-24 supporting the proposal to overturn the carbon pricing scheme.

    Males (53%) were slightly more likely than females (47%) to support Tony Abbott’s proposal.

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  • Jul, 2011

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    Trust in Media

    Q. How much trust do you have in what you read or hear in the following media?

    Total a lot/some

    15 Mar 10

    Total a lot /some A lot of trust Some trust Not much trust No trust at all Don’t know Don’t use
    News and opinion in daily newspapers 62% 53% 6% 47% 29% 10% 2% 6%
    News and opinion in local newspapers 54% 6% 48% 29% 8% 2% 6%
    Commercial TV news and current affairs 64% 48% 5% 43% 30% 17% 2% 3%
    ABC TV news and current affairs 70% 71% 23% 48% 15% 6% 2% 6%
    Commercial radio news and current affairs 54% 46% 4% 42% 32% 12% 3% 7%
    ABC radio news and current affairs 62% 67% 21% 46% 17% 4% 2% 10%
    Commercial radio talkback programs 38% 33% 5% 28% 32% 22% 3% 10%
    ABC radio talkback programs 45% 47% 10% 37% 27% 9% 3% 13%
    News and opinion websites 49% 41% 5% 36% 35% 12% 3% 9%
    Internet blogs 20% 20% 2% 18% 35% 25% 5% 16%

    Trust in media has dropped in all the types of media listed above since 15th March 2010 – except for ABC outlets, which have actually increased slightly.

    ABC TV news and current affairs collects the highest number of people who have a lot/some trust (71%). This is followed by ABC radio news and current affairs (67%).

    The lowest level of trust was recorded for internet blog (20% – the same as in March 2010). This was followed by commercial radio talkback programs (33%).

    The biggest drop in trust was for Commercial TV news and current affairs which dropped from 64% to 49% for the total number of people who selected a lot/some trust.

    Another big drop was in the level of trust for news and opinion in daily newspapers, which dropped from 62% in March 2010 to 53% for the total number of people who selected a lot/some trust.

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  • Jul, 2011

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    Trust in Newspapers

    Q. How much trust do you have in what you read in the following newspapers?

    A lot of trust Some trust Not much trust No trust at all Don’t know
    The Australian 16% 53% 19% 8% 5%
    The Telegraph (NSW only) 7% 45% 25% 21% 2%
    Sydney Morning Herald (NSW only) 20% 54% 19% 6% 1%
    The Age (Victoria only) 23% 56% 15% 3% 3%
    Herald Sun (Victoria only) 7% 47% 32% 12% 2%
    Courier Mail (Queensland only) 9% 56% 22% 12% 1%

    * Note : Percentages based only on respondents who had read each newspaper.

    Among those who have read each newspaper, 23% have a lot of trust in The Age and 20% have a lot of trust in the SMH. 16% of readers of The Australian have a lot of trust in the newspaper but only 7% have a lot of trust in The Telegraph and The Herald Sun.  46% have not much or no trust in The Telegraph and 44% have not much or no trust in The Herald Sun.

    Liberal/National voters (21% and 57%) are more likely than Labor voters (17% and 50%) to have a lot or some trust in the Australian.

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