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  • May, 2010

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    Comparison of Leader Attributes

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

      Kevin Rudd Tony Abbott Difference
    Intelligent 73% 72% +1%
    Hard-working 76% 71% +5%
    A capable leader 55% 50% +5%
    Demanding 69% 52% +17%
    Arrogant 57% 54% +3%
    Out of touch with ordinary people 55% 51% +4%
    Understands the problems facing Australia 53% 49% +4%
    Visionary 37% 35% +2%
    Superficial 52% 44% +8%
    Good in a crisis 44% 40% +4%
    Narrow-minded 43% 53% -10%
    Down to earth 47% 50% -3%
    Too inflexible 45% 47% -2%
    Complacent 38% 30% -8%
    More honest than most politicians 39% 33% +6%
    Trustworthy 41% 39% +2%

     Kevin Rudd has only slightly better ratings than Tony Abbott across key positive attributes such as hard-working (+5%), a capable leader (+5%) and trustworthy (+2%).

    The main differences were that Kevin Rudd is perceived as more demanding (69%/52%), less narrow-minded (43%/53%), more superficial (52%/44%) and more complacent (38%/30%). Comments »

  • May, 2010

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    Approval of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott

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

      Malcolm Turnbull Tony Abbott
      30 Mar 09 29 Jun 09 28 Sept 09 30 Nov 09 14 Dec 09 18 Jan 10 22 Feb 10 29 Mar 10 3 May 10
    Strongly approve 3% 4% 3% 2% 7% 5% 12% 8% 5%
    Approve 25% 20% 24% 23% 27% 32% 33% 25% 34%
    Disapprove 31% 31% 35% 33% 18% 20% 20% 28% 24%
    Strongly disapprove 17% 26% 18% 22% 18% 17% 16% 22% 19%
    Don’t know 24% 19% 21% 19% 31% 26% 18% 16% 18%
    Total approve 28% 24% 27% 25% 34% 37% 45% 33% 39%
    Total disapprove 48% 57% 53% 55% 36% 37% 36% 50% 43%

    Tony Abbott’s approval rating regained some of the large decline recorded in the previous poll.  39% approve (up 6%) of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 43% disapprove (down 7%).

     74% of Liberal/National voters approve and 18% disapprove. 23% of Labor voters approve and 66% disapprove.

     Those aged over 55 are more likely to approve – 49% approve and 41% disapprove. Comments »

  • Apr, 2010

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    Party trust to handle Australia’s Relations

    Q. Who would you trust more to handle Australia’s relations with other nations?

      %
    Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party 41%
    Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party 27%
    No difference 22%
    Don’t know 10%

    41% trust Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party when it comes to handling Australia’s relations with other nations, 27% prefer Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party, 22% think there is no difference and 10% don’t know.

    Results followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and Labor (85%) while Coalition voters were more likely to trust Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party (66%).  Green voters were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party (58%). 

    People aged 55 years and over were more likely to trust Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party (37%), while those aged 45 – 54 were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and Labor (50%) when it comes to handling Australia’s relations with other nations.   Comments »

  • Apr, 2010

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    Opposition Leader Tony Abbott

    Q. Do you think the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is spending too much time on activities not related to his job as Opposition Leader?

      %
    Spend too much time 32%
    Not spending too much time 45%
    Don’t know 23%

    Just under half (45%) of those surveyed think Tony Abbott is not spending too much time on activities not related to his job as Opposition Leader, 32% think he spends too much time on activities not related to his job and 23% don’t know.

    Labor voters were more likely to think Tony Abbott is spending too much time on activities not related to his job (50%), while Coalition voters were more likely to think he is not spending too much time on activities not related to his job (76%). 

    People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think Abbott is not spending too much time on activities not related to his job (53%), as were males (49%).  Comments »

  • Mar, 2010

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    Better Prime Minister – Rudd or Abbott

    Q.  Regardless of your likely party choice for the next election, which of the leaders – Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott – do you think overall would be the best Prime Minister?

      21 Dec 09 22 March 10
    Kevin Rudd 51% 50%
    Tony Abbott 25% 30%
    Don’t know 24% 19%

    When it comes to a choice between Rudd and Abbott as the better Prime Minister, 50% selected Rudd and 30% selected Abbott.  The results for Rudd shifted slightly (-1%) since we last asked this question in December 2009. However, there has been a five percent increase in the number of people that prefer Abbott and a decrease in the number of people that don’t know (-5%). 

    Results followed party lines – 92% of Labor voters chose Rudd and 74% of Coalition voters chose Abbott. 

     64% of Green voters selected Rudd and 11% of Green voters selected Abbott.

     People aged 65 years and over were more likely to think Abbott would make a better Prime Minister (42%), 18 – 24 year olds were more likely to indicate they don’t know who would make a better Prime Minister (28%).   Comments »

  • Mar, 2010

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    Better Prime Minister – Abbott or Gillard

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

      %
    Tony Abbott 37%
    Julia Gillard 47%
    Don’t know 17%

    Just under half (47%) of those surveyed think that Gillard would make a better Prime Minister, 37% selected Abbott and 17% don’t know. 

     Results followed party lines – 78% of Labor voters selected Gillard and 79% of Coalition voters selected Abbott. 

    61% of Green voters think that Gillard would make a better Prime Minister than Abbott.  

    Males were more likely than females to select Abbott (40% v 34%).   46% of males and 47% of females chose Gillard.  

    People aged 65 years and over were more likely to think Abbott would make a better Prime Minister (47%) and people aged 18 – 24 were more likely to indicate they don’t know (31%).  Comments »

  • Mar, 2010

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    Parental leave policy

    Q. The Opposition leader Tony Abbott has proposed a scheme to give new parents 26 weeks leave at their normal rate of pay to be paid for by a 1.7 per cent levy on large companies. The Rudd Government plans to introduce a scheme to give new parents 18 weeks leave at the minimum wage rate paid for by the Government. Which scheme do you support more?

      %
    The Government’s scheme 40%
    The Opposition’s scheme 24%
    Neither 27%
    Don’t know 10%

    40% of respondents supported the Government parent leave scheme, 24% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 27% supported neither.

    Among labor voters, 61% supported the Government scheme and 15% supported the Opposition’s. However, only 37% of Coalition voters supported the Opposition’s scheme – 20% supported the Government scheme and 35% supported neither.

     Young people were more likely to support the Opposition’s scheme – of those aged under 35, 35% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 39% the Government’s. Older respondents were more likely to support neither scheme – of those aged 45-64, 36% supported neither scheme, 42% the Government scheme and 14% the Opposition’s. Men and women showed similar levels of support. Comments »

  • Mar, 2010

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    Attributes to describe the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott

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

      7 Dec 09  1 March 10 Difference
    Intelligent 71% 71%
    Hard-working 69% 69%
    A capable leader 46% 49% +3%
    Demanding 53% 55% +2%
    Arrogant 53% 53%
    Out of touch with ordinary people 53% 50% -3%
    Understands the problems facing Australia 46% 49% +3%
    Visionary 34% 33% -1%
    Superficial 42% 43% +1%
    Good in a crisis 39% 38% -1%
    Narrow-minded 52% 57% +5%
    Down to earth 46% 46%
    Too inflexible 45% 49% +4%
    Complacent 31% 33% +2%
    More honest than most politicians 31% 34% +3%
    Trustworthy 36% 38% +2%

     Since we asked this question in December 2007, Abbott has gained the most points when it comes to appearing narrow minded (+5%) and appearing too inflexible (+4%). 

     When it comes to positive traits, Abbott has gained some ground in terms of appearing as a capable leader (+3%) who understands the problems facing Australia (+3%) and more honest than most politicians (+3%).  Comments »

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