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 »
Abbott, International Relations, Liberal, WorkChoices
Q. If they won the next election, how likely do you think it would be that Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party would try to bring back industrial laws similar to WorkChoices?
| Total likely | 58% |
| Total unlikely | 21% |
| Very likely | 28% |
| Quite likely | 30% |
| Not very likely | 18% |
| Not at all likely | 3% |
| Don’t know | 20% |
58% believe it is likely that Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party would try to bring back industrial laws similar to WorkChoices if they won the next election – 21% think it is unlikely.
83% of Labor voters and 42% of Liberal/National voters think it is likely – 44% of Liberal/National voters think it is unlikely.
64% of workers think it is likely and 17% unlikely. Comments »
International Relations, Liberal, WorkChoices
Q. If the Liberals won the election and reintroduced WorkChoices or similar laws, how concerned would you be?
| Very concerned | 28% |
| Quite concerned | 17% |
| A little concerned | 20% |
| Not concerned | 24% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
Overall, 45% were very or quite concerned about the reintroduction of WorkChoices or similar laws and 44% either a little or not concerned. 77% of Labor voters were concerned compared to 20% of Liberal/National voters. 50% of full-time workers were very/quite concerned and 39% a little or not concerned.
Q. The Opposition Leader Tony Abbot has indicated he would remove the unfair dismissal laws and he would re-institute AWA Individual contracts. How concerned are you about this?
| Very concerned | Quite concerned | A little concerned | Not concerned | Don’t know | |
| Removal of unfair dismissal rights | 36% | 17% | 20% | 16% | 11% |
| Re-institution of AWA individual contracts | 27% | 17% | 19% | 23% | 14% |
53% were very/quite concerned about the removal of unfair dismissal rights and 44% very/quite concerned about re-institution of individual contracts. 77% of Labor voters and 24% of Liberal/National voters were concerned about removal of unfair dismissal rights. 70% of Labor voters and 16% of Liberal/National voters were concerned about re-institution of individual contracts. There were no substantial differences across demographic groups. Comments »
Abbott, International Relations, Liberal, Union, WorkChoices
Q. Tony Abbott says that by removing unfair dismissal laws and re-instituting AWA Individual contracts he is not bringing back Workchoices but making sure our IR system promotes workplace flexibility. The unions say that taking away unfair dismissal rights and re-instituting AWA Individual contracts IS bringing back two of the main pillars of WorkChoices and shows the Liberals are determined to make the laws favour companies at the expense of ordinary workers. Whose view is closest to your own?
| Tony Abbott | 24% |
| The unions | 43% |
| Don’t know | 33% |
24% agreed more with Tony Abbott’s position on removing unfair dismissal laws and re-instituting AWA Individual contracts and 43% agreed more with the unions’ position that the Liberals are determined to make the laws favour companies at the expense of ordinary workers.
69% of Labor voters support the unions’ position and 56% of Liberal/National voters support Tony Abbott’s position.
51% of those aged 35-54 support the unions’ position and 21% support Tony Abbott’s position. Comments »
Election, International Relations, Voting intention, WorkChoices
Q. If it turned out the Coalition was planning to reintroduce some of the Howard Government’s IR laws, like ending unfair dismissal protections and restoring individual contracts, would that make you more likely or less likely to vote for them in the upcoming federal election?
| Total more likely | 14% |
| Total less likely | 46% |
| Much more likely | 6% |
| Somewhat more likely | 8% |
| Somewhat less likely | 14% |
| Much less likely | 32% |
| Make no difference | 25% |
| Don’t know | 15% |
46% said that they would be less likely to vote for the Coalition if they were planning to reintroduce some of the Howard Government’s IR laws – 14% said they would be more likely.
Among Labor voters, 69% said they would be less likely to vote for the Coalition, 7% more likely and 16% make no difference.
Among Coalition voters, 20% said they would be less likely to vote for the Coalition, 30% more likely and 42% make no difference.
51% of those aged 35-54 said they would be less likely to vote for the Coalition, 11% more likely and 26% make no difference. Comments »
International Relations, Labor, rudd
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Kevin Rudd is handling Australia’s relations with other nations?
| April 2009 | April 2010 | |
| Total approve | 67% | 50% |
| Total disapprove | 19% | 32% |
| Strongly approve | 17% | 10% |
| Approve | 50% | 40% |
| Disapprove | 13% | 22% |
| Strongly disapprove | 6% | 10% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 17% |
Half (50%) of those surveyed approve of the way Kevin Rudd is handling Australia’s relations with other nations, 32% disapprove and 17% don’t know.
Results followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to approve (87%), while Coalition voters were more likely to disapprove (66%). 61% of Green voters approve of the way Kevin Rudd is handling Australia’s relations with other nations.
Males were more likely than females to approve (55% v 45%). Females were more likely to indicate they don’t know (22%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to disapprove of the way Kevin Rudd is handling Australia’s relations with other nations (45%).
Since we asked this question a year ago, the number of people that approve of the way Kevin Rudd is handling Australia’s relations with other nations has dropped seventeen percent and the number that disapprove has increased by thirteen percent. Comments »
Abbott, International Relations, Labor, Liberal, rudd
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 »
China, Germany, India, Indonesia, International Relations, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States
Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?
| Very important | Quite important | Not very important | Don’t know | |
| United States | 59% | 33% | 4% | 4% |
| New Zealand | 56% | 34% | 6% | 5% |
| China | 51% | 36% | 7% | 5% |
| United Kingdom | 46% | 41% | 9% | 5% |
| Indonesia | 40% | 40% | 13% | 7% |
| Japan | 39% | 48% | 8% | 5% |
| India | 27% | 44% | 21% | 7% |
| Germany | 18% | 44% | 29% | 8% |
| South Africa | 12% | 41% | 39% | 8% |
Over half think that it is very important for Australia to have a close relationship with the United States (59%), New Zealand (56%) and China (51%).
Labor voters were more likely to think a close relationship with China is very important (56%) while Green voters were more likely to think it is not very important (15%).
Labor voters were more likely to think relations with Indonesia are very important (48%) and relations with India are quite important (51%).
Coalition voters were more likely to think Australia’s relations with India are not very important (26%). However, these voters were more likely to think Australia’s relations with the United Kingdom (52%) and the United States (68%) are very important. Comments »