asylum seekers, boat people, Essential Report, Polling, Processing Asylum Seekers
Q. Thinking about the issue of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat, which of the following alternatives do you think is the best way to process those arriving:
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | 50% or more | About 25% | About 10% | About 5% | 1% or less | |||
| Offshore, in any other country | 11% | 17% | 11% | 5% | 17% | 12% | 10% | 8% | 9% | ||
| Offshore, but only in a country where human rights are protected | 31% | 31% | 37% | 25% | 27% | 41% | 36% | 40% | 30% | ||
| Onshore (in Australia) | 21% | 24% | 11% | 58% | 4% | 7% | 19% | 27% | 42% | ||
| Turn the boats around | 28% | 21% | 36% | 6% | 51% | 39% | 30% | 23% | 15% | ||
| Don’t know | 9% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 1% | 1% | 5% | 3% | 4% |
The most favoured method of processing asylum seekers was ‘offshore, but only in a country where human rights are protected’ (31%), followed by ‘turn the boats around’ (28%).
Respondents then favour processing ‘onshore in Australia’ (21%) over processing asylum seekers ‘offshore in any other country’ (11%).
Coalition voters are more likely to prefer processing asylum seekers offshore where human rights are protected (37%), as well as turning the boats around (36%).
Greens voters are much more likely to prefer onshore processing in Australia (58%). Labor voters are more likely to prefer processing offshore in any other country (17%) and somewhat more likely to prefer processing ‘onshore in Australia’ (24%).
Respondents that believe the proportion of boat arrivals constitute ‘50% or more’ of the annual immigration intake are far more likely to favour ‘turning the boats around’ (51%).
Conversely, respondents that believe the proportion to be ‘1% or less’ are far more likely to be in favour of processing onshore in Australia (42%).
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, boat people, Essential Report, human rights, Polling, Processing Asylum Seekers
Q. Thinking about asylum seekers arriving in Australia, how important do you think each of the following features are for a good refugee processing system?
| Very important | Important | Not very important | Not at all important | Don’t know | Total Important | Total Not Important | ||
| Stopping the boats | 52% | 22% | 11% | 8% | 7% | 74% | 19% | |
| Keeping costs down | 47% | 34% | 11% | 2% | 6% | 81% | 13% | |
| Protecting human rights | 42% | 38% | 9% | 5% | 6% | 80% | 14% | |
| Avoiding prolonged detention | 35% | 33% | 13% | 12% | 8% | 68% | 25% | |
| Making sure children have their claims processed in Australia | 26% | 32% | 18% | 13% | 11% | 58% | 31% | |
| Allowing Australian courts to review claims | 22% | 34% | 16% | 16% | 12% | 56% | 32% | |
| Approval from the United Nations | 22% | 32% | 20% | 16% | 11% | 54% | 36% | |
| Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled | 20% | 29% | 18% | 20% | 13% | 49% | 38% |
Please note: ‘Total Important’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘Very Important’ and ‘Important’ together. ‘Total Not Important’ is an aggregate figure that has been achieved by adding ‘Not very important’ and ‘Not at all important’ together.
The most important feature of a ‘good refugee processing system’ is ‘keeping the costs down’, with 81% of respondents regarding this to be either very important or important, followed by ‘protecting human rights’ (80% total important).
Seventy four per cent (74%) of respondents believed that ‘stopping the boats’ is an important feature and 68% regard ‘avoiding prolonged detention’ to be an important feature.
Amongst the least important features of a good refugee processing system is ‘approval from the United Nations’, with only 54% regarding this to be important and 36% viewing it as not important.
Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled was the least important attribute, with only 49% believing it to be important and 38% regarding it as not important.
Abbott, Approval of opposition leader, Essential Report, federal politics, Polling, tony abbott
Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view about the performance of Tony Abbott as Opposition leader?
| 7 Mar 2011 | 6 Jun 2011 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | ||
| Tony Abbott is performing the role of Opposition leader well and is keeping the Government accountable | 41% | 42% | 38% | 6% | 77% | 10% | |
| Tony Abbott is just opposing everything and is obstructing the work of the Government | 43% | 44% | 45% | 82% | 11% | 77% | |
| Don’t know | 16% | 15% | 17% | 12% | 11% | 13% |
The proportion of respondents that believe that Tony Abbott is performing the role of Opposition Leader well is 38%, down four points from when the question was last asked on 6 June 2011. Coalition voters are far more likely to regard Abbott as performing the role well (77%).
Forty five per cent (45%) of respondents believe that Abbott is just opposing everything and is obstructing the work of Government (45%), a result that is fairly consistent with the previous occasions on which the question has been polled. Labor voters are the most likely to agree with this position (82%), as are Greens voters (77%).
Respondents aged 65+ are much more likely to regard Abbott as performing well (56%).
Respondents from Queensland were also somewhat more likely to regard Abbott as doing well (44%).
ABC, charitable organisations, Essential Report, Federal Government, high court, Polling, Religion, Reserve Bank, trust in group, unions
Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions?
| Total Trust | Total No Trust | A lot of trust | Some trust | A little trust | No trust | Don’t know | ||
| The High Court | 72% | 19% | 33% | 39% | 13% | 6% | 10% | |
| The Reserve Bank | 67% | 24% | 23% | 44% | 17% | 7% | 10% | |
| Courts in general | 65% | 26% | 19% | 46% | 18% | 8% | 9% | |
| Charitable organisations | 61% | 30% | 18% | 43% | 22% | 8% | 9% | |
| Federal Parliament | 55% | 36% | 15% | 40% | 21% | 15% | 10% | |
| The ABC | 46% | 44% | 12% | 34% | 31% | 13% | 10% | |
| Environment groups | 45% | 46% | 11% | 34% | 28% | 18% | 9% | |
| Trade unions | 39% | 52% | 10% | 29% | 30% | 22% | 10% | |
| Business groups | 38% | 51% | 6% | 32% | 34% | 17% | 10% | |
| Religious organisations | 29% | 62% | 9% | 20% | 27% | 35% | 9% | |
| Please note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’ together. ‘Total No Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by combining ‘A little trust’ and ‘No trust’. | ||||||||
The institution in which respondents place the most trust is the High Court with 72% of respondents stating that they either have ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’ in the High Court. The High Court is followed by the Reserve Bank (67%), Courts in general (65%) and Charitable organisations (61%).
Federal parliament features below these top four, ranking 5th with 55% of respondents having either ‘a lot of trust’ or ‘some trust’, followed by the ABC which ranked in sixth place (46% total trust).
The institutions for which respondents had the most distrust were trade unions (52% no trust), business groups (51% no trust) and Religious organisations, which attracted the highest proportion of distrust (62% no trust).
AFL, Essential Report, football, Grand Final, NRL, Polling, rugby, Sport
Q. Which of the following upcoming sporting events are you most interested in?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The AFL Grand Final | 32% | 35% | 33% | 28% |
| The NRL Grand Final | 20% | 19% | 22% | 17% |
| The Rugby World Cup | 10% | 9% | 12% | 10% |
| None of the above | 38% | 37% | 34% | 44% |
Whilst 38% of respondents had no interest in any of the upcoming football finals, 32% were most interested in the AFL, 20% in the NRL and only 10% in the Rugby World Cup.
Female respondents are far more likely to state that they were not interested in any of the upcoming sport events (47%), as were respondents aged 18-24 yeas old (46%).
Respondents from NSW are far more likely to have an interest in the Rugby World Cup (15%) and the NRL Grand Final (35%).
Respondents from QLD are also far more likely to have an interest in the NRL Grand Final (32%).
Victorian respondents are the most likely to be most interested in the AFL Grand Final (67%).
2PP, Essential Report, Polling, two party preferred, 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 = 1874 respondents
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 46% | 46% | 46% | 46% | |
| National | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6 | 50% | 49% | 49% | 49% |
| Labor | 38.0 | 32% | 30% | 32% | 32% |
| Greens | 11.8 | 10% | 11% | 10% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6 | 8% | 10% | 10% | 9% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 56% | 57% | 56% | 56% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 44% | 43% | 44% | 44% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from 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.
Essential Report, Polling, safety, Terrorism
Q. Thinking about the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre 10 years ago – do you think the world is a safer or less safe place than it was 10 years ago?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total safer | 23% | 25% | 26% | 16% |
| Total less safe | 31% | 26% | 32% | 29% |
| A lot safer | 5% | 7% | 5% | 2% |
| A little safer | 18% | 18% | 21% | 14% |
| About the same | 42% | 44% | 39% | 52% |
| A little less safe | 18% | 16% | 19% | 21% |
| A lot less safe | 13% | 10% | 13% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 5% | 3% | 3% |
In total, more respondents feel that the world is now less safe (31% total less safe) than 10 years ago, with 23% feeling that it is safer.
Those aged between 18-24 years old are more likely to regard the world as safer, with 29% stating that it is either a lot safer or a little safer (total safer). Twenty five per cent (25%) of 18-24 year olds stated that the world is either a little less safe or a lot less safe than 10 years ago (total less safe).
Greens voters are the least likely to regard the world as a safer place (16% total safer) in the 10 years post 9-11. Lib/Nat voters are the most likely to regard the world as less safe (32% total less safe) than 10 years ago.
Essential Report, Polling, safety, Security, Terrorism
Q. Do you think Australia is a safer or less safe place than it was 10 years ago?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total safer | 19% | 28% | 18% | 12% |
| Total less safe | 36% | 28% | 40% | 28% |
| A lot safer | 5% | 9% | 5% | 3% |
| A little safer | 14% | 19% | 13% | 9% |
| About the same | 42% | 43% | 40% | 59% |
| A little less safe | 26% | 21% | 30% | 24% |
| A lot less safe | 10% | 7% | 10% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 2% | 3% | 2% |
More respondents think that Australia is now less safe than it was 10 years ago (36% total less safe), compared to those that think it is safer (19% total safe). Most respondents think it is about the same (42%).
Those aged 25-34 years old are more likely to regard Australia as a lot safer (10%) than the general sample (5%). Those aged 65+ are significantly more likely to regard Australia as less safe, with 57% of these respondents stating that they felt it was total less safe overall, compared with 36% of the general sample.
Labor voters are the most likely to regard Australia as a safer place than it was 10 years ago (28% total safer) and Greens voters are the least likely to do so (12% total safer).
Lib/Nat voters are the most likely to regard Australia as less safe than 10 years ago (40%), compared with 28% of Labor and 28% of Greens voters.