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  • Jul, 2010

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    Australian Values

    Q. The Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently said that hard work and education, regarding everyone as equal, showing respect and plain speaking are Australian values. Do you agree or disagree that this is a good definition of Australian values?

      Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat
    Total agree 79% 91% 76%
    Total disagree 11% 2% 20%
    Strongly agree 22% 39% 11%
    Agree 57% 52% 65%
    Disagree 9% 2% 16%
    Strongly disagree 2% * 4%
    Don’t know 10% 6% 4%

    79% of respondents agreed with Julia Gillard’s description of Australian values – 91% of Labor voters agreed, 76% of Liberal/National voters and 79% of Greens voters. Comments »

  • Jul, 2010

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    Leaders and Australian Values

     Q. Do you agree or disagree that this definition of Australian values describes the political leaders Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Bob Brown?

      Julia Gillard Tony Abbott Bob Brown
    Total agree 64% 39% 36%
    Total disagree 18% 40% 31%
    Strongly agree 21% 7% 8%
    Agree 43% 32% 28%
    Disagree 12% 25% 18%
    Strongly disagree 6% 15% 13%
    Don’t know 17% 21% 34%

    64% agreed that the definition of Australian values describes Julia Gillard, 39% Tony Abbott and 36% Bob Brown.

    Among their own voters – 90% of Labor voters agreed they describe Julia Gillard, 73% of Liberal/National voters agreed they describe Tony Abbott and 72% of Greens voters agreed they describe Bob Brown.

    By gender – 62% of men and 68% of women agree they describe Julia Gillard and 43% of men and 34% of women agree they describe Tony Abbott. Comments »

  • Jul, 2010

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    Performance of PM over MRRT

     Q. How would you rate the job Prime Minister Julia Gillard has done in handling the mining tax issue?

    Total good 58%
    Total poor 25%
    Very good 14%
    Good 44%
    Poor 15%
    Very poor 10%
    Don’t know 16%

     58% rated the Prime Minister’s handling of the mining tax issue as good and 25% rated it poor. Labor voters rated it 87% good and 6% poor and Greens voters rated it 60% good and 27% poor. 40% of Liberal/National voters rated it good and 49% poor. Comments »

  • Jul, 2010

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    Approval of Prime Minister’s handling of Asylum Seeker Issue

      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 »

  • Jul, 2010

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    The angry fish that could change Australia

    First published on The Punch 6/7/2010

    There is a wildcard hanging over the upcoming election, a factor outside the control of the any politician – it resembles an angry fish, and it is looking for someone to bite.

    Question: Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions  in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same? Source:  Essential Report

    Question: Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same? Source: Essential Report

    It is the long-term trend line on people’s economic confidence, and it shows that after we sounded a collective sigh of relief last year, we are beginning to fear the worst again, a sense of economy insecurity that can affect our work, our home lives – and the way we look at politics.

    The story of the fish charts the highs and lows of first term Labor, it also offers some tantalising clues about what happens next. Why a fish? As the graph above shows, the competing stories of confidence and despondency have taken a wild journey over the past two years.  With fear surging as the GFC hit, curtailing as stimulus stabilised the economy, but now rising again.

    Kevin Rudd inherited a nation fearing the worst – the US sub-prime was not just a theory – big banks collapsed, homes were lost, mass lay-offs. As the word ‘contagion’ was bandied around – it emerged that many Australian local councils had unwittingly invested in the toxic loans to bad security risks. Economists warned us of our unsustainable levels of household debt. The notion of economic carnage in Australia was real.

    Comments »

  • Jul, 2010

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    Federal politics – voting intention

    Q. If there was a Federal election held today, to which party would you probably give your first preference?

    Q. If you ‘don’t know’ on the above question, which party are you currently leaning to?

    1,797 sample size

    First preference/leaning to 6 months ago 4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week

    Liberal 34% 38% 37% 36% 36%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 37% 40% 40% 39% 39%
    Labor 47% 37% 38% 42% 42%
    Greens 8% 12% 11% 9% 11%
    Family First 2% 3% 3% 3% 2%
    Other/Independent 6% 7% 8% 7% 6%
    2PP 6 months ago 4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week

    Total Lib/Nat 43% 48% 48% 46% 46%
    Labor 57% 52% 52% 54% 54%

    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.

    * Sample is the aggregation of two weeks’ polling data. Comments »

  • Jul, 2010

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    Approval of Julia Gillard

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

    Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
    30 Mar 09 29 Jun 09 28 Sept 09 14 Dec 09 29 Mar 10 31 May 10 5 Jul 10
    Total approve 71% 62% 66% 57% 53% 41% 48%
    Total disapprove 21% 29% 23% 32% 36% 47% 27%
    Strongly approve 21% 14% 15% 10% 12% 7% 14%
    Approve 50% 48% 51% 47% 41% 34% 34%
    Disapprove 14% 18% 17% 20% 22% 25% 13%
    Strongly disapprove 7% 9% 6% 12% 14% 22% 14%
    Don’t know 9% 11% 11% 10% 12% 12% 26%

    After one week as Prime Minister, 48% approve of Julia Gillard’s performance and 27% disapprove. 26% could not give an opinion. Julia Gillard’s approval rating is 7% higher than Kevin Rudd’s last result and 20% lower on the disapproval rating.

    85% of Labor voters approved and 4% disapproved. Liberal/National voters split 19% approve and 54% disapprove.

    Men split 46% approve/31% disapprove and women 50% approve/23% disapprove. Comments »

  • Jul, 2010

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    Better Prime Minister

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

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott

    21 Jun 10

    Julia Gillard v Tony Abbott

    28 Jun 10

    Julia Gillard 53% 94% 12% 72% 47% 49%
    Tony Abbott 26% 2% 70% 3% 30% 29%
    Don’t know 21% 4% 18% 24% 23% 22%

    53% think Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 26% prefer Tony Abbott – somewhat better than Kevin Rudd’s last result of 47%/30% and also better than last week’s figures for Julia Gillard just after she became Prime Minister.

    Men prefer Julia Gillard over Tony Abbott 48% to 31% and women 57%/22%. Comments »

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