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  • Nov, 2011

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    Approval of Julia Gillard

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

    19 Jul 2010 20 Dec 2010 14 Mar 14 June 12 Sept 17 Oct 14 Nov
    Total approve 52% 43% 41% 34% 28% 34% 37%
    Total disapprove 30% 40% 46% 54% 64% 59% 55%
    Strongly approve 11% 10% 7% 6% 5% 7% 8%
    Approve 41% 33% 34% 28% 23% 27% 29%
    Disapprove 17% 24% 22% 29% 28% 27% 25%
    Strongly disapprove 13% 16% 24% 25% 36% 32% 30%
    Don’t know 18% 17% 13% 13% 8% 7% 9%

    Julia Gillard’s approval rating has continued the improvement shown last month. 37% (up 3%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 55% (down 4%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -25 to -18 over the last 4 weeks. This represents Julia Gillard’s best ratings since May.

    81% of Labor voters approve (up 7%) and 16% disapprove (down 5%).

    By gender – men 37% approve/57% disapprove, women 36% approve/52% disapprove.

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  • Nov, 2011

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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?

    5 Jul 2010 14 Mar 14 June 12 Sept 17 Oct 14 Nov Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Julia Gillard 53% 44% 41% 36% 38% 41% 83% 7% 80%
    Tony Abbott 26% 33% 36% 40% 39% 36% 5% 73% 4%
    Don’t know 21% 23% 24% 24% 23% 24% 12% 20% 17%

    41% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 36% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Julia Gillard of 6% on last month’s figures (from -1% to +5%). This is the best result for Julia Gillard since June.

    Men are evenly split 39%/39% and women favour Julia Gillard 42%/33%.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Australia’s Future

    Q. To which region do you think Australia’s future is most closely tied?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Europe 7% 6% 7% 5%
    Asia 74% 81% 76% 82%
    North America 9% 6% 10% 10%
    Don’t know 10% 6% 8% 4%

    74% think Australia’s future is most closely tied to Asia – only 9% think it is tied to North America and 7% Europe.

    Views are similar across major voter groups. However, younger respondents were a little less likely to agree – 68% of those aged under 35 think Australia’s future is most closely tied to Asia compared to 81% of those aged 55+.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Interests Represented by Parties

    Q. Which political party do you think best represents the interests of –

    Labor Liberal Greens Don’t know Net (Labor-

    Liberal

    Net

    May 11

    Families with young children 42% 31% 5% 23% +11 +3
    Students 36% 26% 12% 27% +10 +2
    Working people on average incomes 44% 33% 5% 18% +11 +8
    Working people on low incomes 50% 25% 6% 19% +25 +16
    Working people on high incomes 13% 67% 2% 18% -54 -50
    People on welfare 46% 20% 9% 26% +26 +15
    Pensioners 39% 27% 7% 27% +12 +5
    Small businesses and self-employed 22% 51% 3% 24% -29 -27
    Big business 11% 68% 1% 19% -57 -49
    The next generation of Australians 21% 32% 17% 30% -11 -12
    Indigenous people 28% 17% 19% 36% +11 +2
    Ethnic communities 27% 19% 15% 39% +8 +1
    Rural and regional Australians 22% 35% 12% 31% -13 -16

    The Labor Party is considered the party which best represents the interests of families with young children, students, working people on low and average incomes, people on welfare and pensioners. The Liberal Party is considered substantially better at representing the interests of people on high incomes, big business and small business and self-employed. The Greens’ main strengths are in representing the next generation, indigenous people and ethnic communities.

    Since this question was last asked in May, the Labor Party has considerably improved its position on representing the interests of families with young children, students, people on low incomes and people on welfare. The perception that the Liberal Party best represents the interest of big business has increased.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Federal politics – 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 = 1,906 respondents

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 45% 45% 44% 43%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6% 48% 48% 47% 46%
    Labor 38.0% 33% 32% 34% 35%
    Greens 11.8% 10% 11% 10% 9%
    Other/Independent 6.6% 9% 8% 9% 9%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 55% 55% 55% 54%
    Labor 50.1% 45% 45% 45% 46%

    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.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Approval of Parties to Qantas Dispute

    Q. Did you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following in the Qantas dispute?

    Regular air travellers
    Total approve Total disapprove Strongly approve Approve Disapprove Strongly disapprove Don’t know Total approve Total disapprove
    Julia Gillard and the Labor Government 30% 49% 6% 24% 22% 27% 20% 30% 56%
    Tony Abbott and the opposition 27% 45% 5% 22% 21% 24% 28% 36% 45%
    Qantas management 27% 57% 6% 21% 28% 29% 16% 37% 56%
    Qantas workers 33% 49% 7% 26% 36% 13% 18% 35% 55%
    The Qantas CEO Alan Joyce 28% 58% 8% 20% 22% 36% 14% 37% 55%
    Union leaders 24% 56% 4% 20% 27% 29% 19% 26% 63%
    Fair Work Australia 55% 21% 13% 42% 15% 6% 23% 62% 25%

    Overall, respondents disapproved of the performance of all parties to the dispute except for Fair Work Australia, which was approved by 55%.

    More than half the respondents disapproved of the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (58%), Qantas management (57%) and union leaders (56%).

    Regular air travellers were more likely to approve of Qantas management and CEO. However, more than half disapproved of all parties except for Tony Abbott and the opposition (45% disapprove) and Fair Work Australia (25%).

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Federal politics – 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 = 1,899 respondents

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 45% 45% 45% 44%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6% 48% 48% 48% 47%
    Labor 38.0% 33% 33% 32% 34%
    Greens 11.8% 11% 11% 11% 10%
    Other/Independent 6.6% 9% 8% 8% 9%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 55% 55% 55% 55%
    Labor 50.1% 45% 45% 45% 45%

    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.

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Whether Government favours Businesses or Workers

    Q. Do you think the Federal Labor Government favours the interests of businesses or workers?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total favour businesses 28% 21% 31% 40%
    Total  favour workers 41% 40% 50% 28%
    Favour businesses a lot more than workers 13% 7% 16% 18%
    Favour businesses a little more than workers 15% 14% 15% 22%
    Favour workers a little more than businesses 24% 32% 21% 20%
    Favour workers a lot more than businesses 17% 8% 29% 8%
    Balance the interests of businesses and workers 14% 29% 5% 15%
    Don’t know 17% 10% 14% 17%

    41% think that the Federal Labor Government favours the interests of workers, 28% think they favour the interests of businesses and 14% think they balance their interests.

    Labor voters think the favour workers over business by 40% to 21% and 29% think they balance their interests.

    Liberal /National voters are much less likely to think they balance their interests – 50% think they favour workers’ interests and 31% think they favour businesses. Greens voters are more likely to think they favour the interests of businesses (40%) over workers (28%).

    The only substantial difference across demographic groups is that 20% of older respondents (aged 55+) think the Government balances the interests of businesses and workers.

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