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.
asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, Greens, Labor, Liberal
Q. Which party would you trust most to handle the issue of asylum seekers?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The Labor Party | 25% | 57% | 2% | 38% |
| The Liberal Party | 37% | 8% | 80% | 8% |
| No difference | 25% | 27% | 11% | 46% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
37% of respondents trust the Liberal Party most to handle the asylum seeker issue and 25% trust the Labor Party most.
57% of Labor voters trust the Labor Party most and 80% of Liberal/National voters trust the Liberal Party most. 46% of Greens voters and 55% of other voters think there is no difference between the Labor and Liberal Parties on the issue.
asylum seekers, climate change, controlling interest rates, Election Issues, fair industrial relations system, management of the economy, population growth, protecting the environment, quality education for all children, quality of Australia’s health system
Q. Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election? (Number from 1 to 3 where 1 is the most important, 2 the second most important, etc)
| Total | Labor | Liberal | Green | |
| Management of the economy | 62% | 59% | 74% | 46% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 32% | 37% | 26% | 23% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 48% | 53% | 47% | 43% |
| Protecting the environment | 12% | 12% | 8% | 27% |
| A fair industrial relations system | 11% | 18% | 6% | 14% |
| Political leadership | 16% | 16% | 17% | 10% |
| Addressing climate change | 11% | 15% | 4% | 35% |
| Controlling interest rates | 17% | 11% | 22% | 12% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 30% | 34% | 27% | 15% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 6% | 4% | 8% | 13% |
| Housing affordability | 17% | 12% | 16% | 20% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 16% | 12% | 20% | 16% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 6% | 3% | 8% | 2% |
| Treatment of asylum seekers | 5% | 3% | 5% | 10% |
| Managing population growth | 10% | 7% | 13% | 9% |
Labor voters are more likely to rate ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system (53%), ensuring a quality education for all children (37%) and a fair industrial relations system (18%) as important.
Liberal/National voters attach more importance to management of the economy (74%) and controlling interest rates (22%) while Greens voters are more likely to nominate addressing climate change (35%) and protecting the environment (27%).
asylum seekers, Australian jobs, climate change, economy, Education, Election, environment, Health, Housing, Interest rates, leadership, population, tax
Q. Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election?
| First | Second | Third | Total | Total
10 May 10 |
Difference | |
| Management of the economy | 38% | 18% | 7% | 63% | 62% | +1% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 16% | 20% | 19% | 55% | 50% | +5% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 7% | 8% | 9% | 24% | 29% | -5% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 4% | 11% | 9% | 24% | 19% | +5% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 4% | 6% | 8% | 18% | 22% | -4% |
| Protecting the environment | 5% | 5% | 5% | 15% | 13% | +2% |
| Political leadership | 6% | 3% | 4% | 13% | 12% | +1% |
| Housing affordability | 4% | 4% | 5% | 13% | 17% | -4% |
| Addressing climate change | 4% | 4% | 4% | 12% | 12% | – |
| Controlling interest rates | 3% | 5% | 4% | 12% | 16% | -4% |
| Managing population growth | 1% | 4% | 7% | 12% | 14% | -2% |
| Treatment of asylum seekers | 4% | 3% | 4% | 11% | * | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 2% | 4% | 5% | 11% | 9% | +2% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 1% | 2% | 5% | 8% | 7% | +1% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 1% | 1% | 4% | 6% | 7% | -1% |
*Not asked in May 2010 poll
The most important election issues were management of the economy, the quality of the health system, jobs and local industry and a quality education for all children.
Since this issue was last polled in May, health and education have increased in importance (both +5%) and Australian jobs and protection of local industry declined 5%. Comments »
asylum seekers, Australian jobs, climate change, economy, Education, Election Issues, environment, Health, Housing, Industrial Relations, Interest rates, leadership, population, Security, tax, Terrorism, Water
Q. And which party would you trust most to handle the following issues?
| Labor | Liberal | Greens | Don’t know | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 45% | 24% | 5% | 26% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 41% | 25% | 4% | 29% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 42% | 28% | 3% | 27% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 38% | 27% | 4% | 31% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 36% | 28% | 4% | 32% |
| Housing affordability | 30% | 24% | 4% | 41% |
| Political leadership | 33% | 30% | 5% | 33% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 23% | 23% | 22% | 32% |
| Managing population growth | 24% | 27% | 9% | 40% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 25% | 30% | 3% | 42% |
| Management of the economy | 32% | 38% | 3% | 27% |
| Treatment of asylum seekers | 23% | 29% | 11% | 37% |
| Controlling interest rates | 28% | 35% | 2% | 35% |
| Addressing climate change | 18% | 16% | 36% | 29% |
| Protecting the environment | 17% | 13% | 47% | 23% |
Labor have a substantial lead over the Liberal Party as the best party to handle a fair industrial relations system (+21%), quality education for all (+16%), Australian jobs and protection of industries (+14%) and ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system (+11%).
The Liberal Party’s main strengths were controlling interest rates (+7%), treatment of asylum seekers (+6%) and management of the economy (+6%).
The Greens were thought to be the best party for protecting the environment (47%) and addressing climate change (36%). Comments »
Q. Do you think the Federal Labor Government is too tough or too soft on asylum seekers or is it taking the right approach?
| 12 July 10 | 4 April 10 | |
| Too tough | 10% | 6% |
| Too soft | 56% | 65% |
| Taking the right approach | 21% | 18% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 11% |
10% think the Government is too tough on asylum seekers, 56% too soft and 21% think they are taking the right approach. Since this question was asked three months ago, the percentage thinking the Government is too soft is down 9%, too tough up 4% and “the right approach” up 3%.
Among Labor voters 43% say they are too soft, 37% think they are taking the right approach and 11% think they are too tough. 81% of Liberal/National voters think they are too soft, 4% too tough and 10% taking the right approach. Greens voters are split – 38% think they are too tough, 28% too soft and 23% taking the right approach.
There are some differences of opinion by age – among the under 35’s, 46% think they are too soft, 14% too tough and 19% taking the right approach. Among those aged 55+, 66% think they are too soft, 8% too tough and 22% taking the right approach. Comments »
Q. Do you approve or disapprove the way the Prime Minister Julia Gillard is addressing the asylum seeker issue?
| Total approve | 42% |
| Total disapprove | 33% |
| Strongly approve | 7% |
| Approve | 35% |
| Disapprove | 23% |
| Strongly disapprove | 10% |
| Don’t know | 26% |
42% approved of the way the Prime Minister is addressing the asylum seeker issue and 33% disapproved. 63% of Labor voters approved and 15% disapproved. 57% Liberal/National voters disapproved and 26% approved and for Greens voters 32% approved and 41% disapproved. Comments »
asylum seekers, Labor, Liberal
Q. Which party would you trust most to handle the issue of asylum seekers?
| 12 July 10 | 4 April 10 | |
| The Labor Party | 24% | 23% |
| The Liberal Party | 31% | 34% |
| No difference | 33% | 28% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 15% |
24% trust the Labor Party most to handle the issue of asylum seekers, 31% trust the Liberal Party most and 45% think there is no difference or don’t know. This represents only a small change since this question was asked three months ago – the gap between Labor and Liberal has closed from 11% to 7% and the proportion that thinks there is no difference is up 5%.
54% of Labor voters trust the Labor Party most and 33% say there is no difference while 75% of Liberal/National voters trust the Liberal Party and only 18% think there is no difference. 47% of Greens voters think there is no difference, 31% trust the Labor Party most and 11% the Liberal Party. Comments »