asylum seekers, children in detention centres, detention centres, Federal Government, Greens, immigration, Labor, Liberal
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Federal Government’s decision to move children and their families out of immigration detention centres and allow them to live in the community while their cases are being processed?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total approve | 33% | 42% | 24% | 63% |
| Total disapprove | 53% | 45% | 67% | 28% |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 15% | 4% | 39% |
| Approve | 22% | 27% | 20% | 24% |
| Disapprove | 24% | 22% | 29% | 12% |
| Strongly disapprove | 29% | 23% | 38% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 13% | 9% | 8% |
53% disapproved the Federal Government’s decision to move children and their families out of immigration detention centres and allow them to live in the community while their cases are being processed and 33% approved.
63% of Greens voters approved, 67% of Liberal/National voters disapproved and Labor voters were split 42% approve/45% disapprove.
By gender – men 38% approve/50% disapprove, women 28% approve/57% disapprove.
climate change, economy, Education, Election, environment, Health, immigration, International Relations, Security, Voting intention
Q. How important are the following in deciding which party you will vote for?
| Top priority | Very important | Quite important | Not so important | Don’t know | |
| Better at handling Australia’s economy | 37% | 48% | 10% | 1% | 4% |
| They have better policies on things like education and health | 31% | 47% | 16% | 1% | 4% |
| They are more capable of governing effectively than the other parties | 30% | 47% | 16% | 1% | 6% |
| They are more likely to represent the interests of all Australians | 30% | 45% | 18% | 3% | 5% |
| They will do things that help me and my family | 28% | 42% | 21% | 4% | 5% |
| They have better policies on things like national security and immigration | 24% | 42% | 22% | 6% | 5% |
| Better at looking after the interests people like me | 23% | 47% | 22% | 4% | 4% |
| They have better policies on things like industrial relations and supporting Australian workers | 23% | 44% | 24% | 4% | 5% |
| More trustworthy than the other parties | 22% | 44% | 21% | 5% | 8% |
| They have better policies on things like environment and climate change | 21% | 41% | 23% | 9% | 5% |
| They have a better leader | 16% | 40% | 28% | 8% | 7% |
| I always vote for them | 9% | 15% | 24% | 42% | 10% |
Key factors in deciding which party to vote for are handling the economy (37% top priority), policies on education and health (31%), capable of governing effectively (30%) and representing the interests of all Australians (30%). Comments »
economy, Education, Election, Health, immigration, International Relations, Security, Voting intention
Q. How important are the following in deciding which party you will vote for?
| Top priority | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens |
| Better at handling Australia’s economy | 37% | 33% | 51% | 19% |
| They have better policies on things like education and health | 31% | 41% | 25% | 35% |
| They are more capable of governing effectively than the other parties | 30% | 30% | 35% | 18% |
| They are more likely to represent the interests of all Australians | 30% | 36% | 25% | 25% |
| They will do things that help me and my family | 28% | 32% | 27% | 17% |
| They have better policies on things like national security and immigration | 24% | 24% | 29% | 20% |
| Better at looking after the interests people like me | 23% | 27% | 21% | 22% |
| They have better policies on things like industrial relations and supporting Australian workers | 23% | 36% | 17% | 20% |
| More trustworthy than the other parties | 22% | 23% | 23% | 21% |
| They have better policies on things like environment and climate change | 21% | 26% | 13% | 46% |
| They have a better leader | 16% | 24% | 14% | 13% |
| I always vote for them | 9% | 11% | 11% | 6% |
The most important issues for Labor voters are policies on education and health (41% top priority), representing the interests of all Australians (36%), policies on industrial relations and supporting workers (36%) and doing things to help me and my family (32%).
For Liberal/National voters the key issues are handling the economy (51% top priority), capable of governing effectively (35%) and policies on national security and immigration (29%).
The major issue for Greens voters is policies on the environment and climate change (46%). Comments »
Q. Tony Abbott has proposed to cut immigration from around 300,000 a year to 170,000? Do you approve or disapprove of this cut to immigration?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| Total approve | 64% | 52% | 91% | 38% |
| Total disapprove | 22% | 32% | 6% | 49% |
| Strongly approve | 33% | 20% | 56% | 16% |
| Approve | 31% | 32% | 35% | 22% |
| Disapprove | 15% | 22% | 5% | 30% |
| Strongly disapprove | 7% | 10% | 1% | 19% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 16% | 3% | 13% |
64% approve Tony Abbott’s proposal to cut immigration and 22% oppose. There is strong support for cutting immigration from Liberal/National voters (91%) – while Labor voters (52% approve/32% disapprove) and Greens voters (38%/49%) are split. Comments »
Abbott, Gillard, immigration, Labor, Liberal
Q. Which leader and party do you trust most to handle immigration issues?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party | 35% | 6% | 83% | 9% |
| Julia Gillard and the Labor Party | 23% | 50% | 3% | 27% |
| No difference | 31% | 35% | 11% | 56% |
| Don’t know | 10% | 9% | 3% | 8% |
Overall, Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party are trusted most to handle immigration issues (35% to 23%). 31% think there is no difference between the major parties on immigration.
83% of Liberal/National voters trust Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party most and 50% of Labor voters trust Julia Gillard and the Labor Party. 56% of Greens voters think there is no difference. Comments »
average, best party, climate change, economy, Election, environment, future, Greens, immigration, Labor, Liberal, relations
Q. Which of the following parties – Labor, Liberal or Greens – do you think is the best party when it comes to –
| Labor | Liberal | Greens | Don’t know | |
| Representing the interests of Australian working people | 42% | 27% | 6% | 25% |
| Standing up to the big multinational corporations | 32% | 27% | 13% | 28% |
| Handling the economy in a way that best protects working people in Australia | 36% | 35% | 4% | 25% |
| Understanding the needs of the average Australian | 29% | 27% | 9% | 35% |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you | 32% | 34% | 10% | 24% |
| Having a vision for Australia’s future | 29% | 33% | 9% | 29% |
| Taking Australia forward, not backwards | 29% | 34% | 9% | 28% |
| Handling Australia’s relations with other countries | 30% | 38% | 4% | 27% |
| Handling Australia’s economy | 30% | 42% | 3% | 25% |
| Dealing with the issue of immigration | 20% | 41% | 7% | 32% |
| Being honest and ethical | 19% | 21% | 15% | 45% |
| Handling environmental and climate change issues | 19% | 19% | 36% | 27% |
The Labor Party was thought to be better than the Liberal Party at “representing the interests of Australian working people” (42% to 27%) and “standing up to the big multinational corporations “ (32%/27%).
The Liberal Party was thought to be better than the Labor Party at “dealing with the issue of immigration “ (41% to 20%), “handling Australia’s economy” (42%/30%), “handling Australia’s relations with other countries” (38%/30%), “taking Australia forward, not backwards” (34%/29%) and “having a vision for Australia’s future” (33%/29%).
There was little difference between the Liberal and Labor Parties in terms of “handling the economy in a way that best protects working people in Australia”, “understanding the needs of the average Australian” and “representing the interests of you and people like you”.
36% believed the Greens were best at “handling environmental and climate change issues” and 45% could not nominate a party best at “being honest and ethical”. Comments »
asylum seekers, Greens, immigration, Labor, Liberal
Q. From what you have read and heard, what percentage of Australia’s annual immigration intake are asylum seekers arriving by boat?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| 50% or more | 10% | 10% | 12% | 6% |
| About 25% | 15% | 15% | 17% | 8% |
| About 10% | 13% | 12% | 15% | 13% |
| About 5% | 15% | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| 1% or less | 18% | 21% | 17% | 26% |
| Don’t know | 30% | 30% | 22% | 28% |
38% of respondents think asylum seekers arriving by boat make up at least 10% of Australia’s immigration intake – 15% think it about 5% and 18% think it is 1% or less.
26% of Greens voters think it is 1% or less and 44% of Liberal/National voters think it is 10% or more.
26% of people aged 45-64 think it is 1% or less. Comments »
Australian jobs, climate change, economy, Education, Election, employment, environment, Health, Housing, immigration, Industrial Relations, Interest rates, population, Security, Terrorism, Voting intention, Water
Q8. 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)
| One | Two | Three | Total | Total
25 Jan 10 |
Difference | |
| Management of the economy | 34% | 18% | 10% | 62% | 63% | -1% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 14% | 20% | 16% | 50% | 48% | +2% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 8% | 10% | 11% | 29% | 33% | -4% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 5% | 8% | 9% | 22% | 18% | +4% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 3% | 7% | 9% | 19% | 23% | -4% |
| Housing affordability | 6% | 5% | 6% | 17% | 14% | +3% |
| Controlling interest rates | 5% | 5% | 6% | 16% | 15% | +1% |
| Managing population growth | 3% | 4% | 7% | 14% | * | |
| Protecting the environment | 3% | 5% | 5% | 13% | 16% | -3% |
| Political leadership | 5% | 3% | 4% | 12% | 23% | -11% |
| Addressing climate change | 4% | 4% | 4% | 12% | 16% | -4% |
| Fair immigration policies | 3% | 4% | 3% | 10% | * | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 2% | 4% | 3% | 9% | 10% | -1% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 2% | 2% | 3% | 7% | 12% | -5% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 2% | 2% | 3% | 7% | 9% | -2% |
*Not asked in January 2010 poll
62% of people surveyed rate management of the economy is one of their three most important issues, followed by 50% that rate ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system and 29% that rate Australian jobs and protection of local industries as one of their three most important issues.
Only 9% rate a fair industrial relations system as one of their three most important issues and 7% rate security and the war on terrorism and ensuring a quality water supply.
The major change since the previous survey in January, was a drop in the importance of political leadership from 23% to 12%. Ensuring a fairer tax system has risen slightly from 18% to 22%. Comments »