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Involvement in politics

15 Jul 2013

Q. Thinking about Federal politics and the election, which of the following have you personally done in the last week?

 

 

Total

 

 

Vote Labor

Vote Lib/Nat

Vote Greens

Seen any TV advertising by political parties

43%

46%

44%

38%

Received printed material from candidates.

27%

26%

27%

35%

Read about Federal politics in a newspaper

41%

43%

43%

39%

Watched Federal politicians on TV

56%

63%

54%

57%

Listened to Federal politicians on the radio

22%

21%

22%

32%

Listened to commentators talking about Federal politics on the radio

30%

32%

29%

34%

Watched commentators talking about Federal politics on the TV

48%

54%

47%

47%

Read anything about Federal politics on the internet

39%

47%

33%

49%

Discussed Federal politics and the election with friends or family

50%

56%

46%

60%

TV was the most common way for respondents to engage with politics over the past week. 56% said they had watched Federal politicians on TV and 48% had watched commentators talking about Federal politics on TV.

Labor voters were more likely to watch politicians (63%) or commentators (54%) on TV and also more likely to use the internet to read about politics (47%).

There were some substantial differences by age group – 30% of respondents aged under 35 read about politics in a newspaper compared to 57% of those aged 55+ and 42% of aged under 35 watched politicians on TV compared to 71% of aged 55+.

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