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  • Dec, 2010

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    The Past Year – Politicians

     Q. Has it been a good or bad year for each of the following politicians?

      Total good Total bad Very good Good Neither good nor bad Bad Very bad Don’t know
    Julia Gillard 49% 25% 14% 35% 22% 17% 8% 4%
    Bob Brown 38% 21% 9% 29% 28% 11% 10% 13%
    Tony Abbott 30% 33% 4% 26% 32% 25% 8% 6%
    Malcolm Turnbull 10% 43% 1% 9% 35% 30% 13% 11%
    Kevin Rudd 10% 70% 2% 8% 15% 36% 34% 5%

     

      Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
      Total good Total bad Total good Total bad Total good Total bad Total good Total bad
    Julia Gillard 49% 25% 69% 8% 36% 43% 57% 17%
    Bob Brown 38% 21% 40% 17% 35% 31% 68% 6%
    Tony Abbott 30% 33% 19% 45% 44% 21% 17% 54%
    Malcolm Turnbull 10% 43% 6% 50% 15% 42% 6% 50%
    Kevin Rudd 10% 70% 14% 64% 8% 81% 11% 73%

    Overall, Julia Gillard (49% good/25% bad) and Bob Brown (38%/21%) are thought to have had a good year. Respondents were divided on whether Tony Abbott has had a good year (30%/33%).

    A majority of their own voters thought Julia Gillard (69%) and Bob Brown (68%) have had a good year but only 44% of Liberal/National voters think Tony Abbott has had a good year. There is a substantial gender difference on the assessment of Tony Abbott – men split 37% good/30% bad and women 23% good/36% bad. Comments »

  • Nov, 2010

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    Liberal Party Leadership

    Q. Which of the following do you think would be the best person to lead the Liberal Party at the next election?

      Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Tony Abbott 23% 5% 50% 5%
    Malcolm Turnbull 22% 27% 19% 39%
    Joe Hockey 14% 15% 15% 12%
    Julie Bishop 6% 9% 5% 7%
    Andrew Robb 1% 1% 1%
    Someone else 15% 22% 3% 18%
    Don’t know 19% 21% 7% 19%

    23% think Tony Abbott would be the best person to lead the Liberal Party at the next election, 22% prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 14% Joe Hockey.

    Among Coalition voters, 50% prefer Tony Abbott, 19% Malcolm Turnbull and 15% Joe Hockey.

    Tony Abbott is preferred over Malcolm Turnbull by those aged under 45 22% to 19% but the over 45’s prefer Malcolm Turnbull over Tony Abbott 27% to 25%.

    A similar question (although not exactly the same) asked in September showed Tony Abbott with a 26% to 20% lead over Malcolm Turnbull overall and 53% to 15% among Coalition voters. Joe Hockey’s support was 15% in total and 17% among Liberal voters. Comments »

  • Sep, 2010

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    Best Leader of Liberal Party

    Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens


    Tony Abbott 26% 10% 53% 2%
    Malcolm Turnbull 20% 27% 15% 27%
    Joe Hockey 15% 15% 17% 17%
    Julie Bishop 5% 8% 2% 10%
    Don’t know 33% 41% 13% 44%

    26% of people believe that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 20% believe Malcolm Turnbull is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 33% don’t know.

    27% of Labor voters think that Malcolm Turnbull is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 53% of Lib/Nat voters think that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 44% of Green voters don’t know who the best leader of the Liberal Party is.

    28% of males, compared with 24% of females think that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party.

    42% of females don’t know who the best leader of the Liberal Party is.

    38% of those aged 18-24 don’t know who the best leader of the Liberal Party is. 39% of those aged 65+ think that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party.

    Comments »

  • Jun, 2010

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    Opinion of Leaders

    Q. From the following list of current and recent leaders of the Liberal/Labor Party – rate each in terms of whether you think they were a good or poor leader of their party.

    Total good Total poor Very good Good Average Poor Very poor Don’t know
    Tony Abbott 30% 34% 7% 23% 29% 14% 20% 7%
    Malcolm Turnbull 28% 33% 6% 22% 32% 20% 13% 8%
    Brendan Nelson 13% 44% 2% 11% 33% 28% 16% 11%
    John Howard 51% 26% 27% 24% 18% 11% 15% 5%
    Kevin Rudd 38% 34% 10% 28% 23% 15% 19% 4%
    Kim Beazley 29% 29% 7% 22% 36% 17% 12% 6%
    Mark Latham 7% 62% 2% 5% 23% 26% 36% 8%
    Simon Crean 9% 47% 2% 7% 32% 29% 18% 12%
    Paul Keating 40% 26% 14% 26% 27% 12% 14% 8%

    Overall, John Howard (51% good/26% poor) was considered the best Liberal Party leader of recent times and Paul Keating (40%/26%) the best Labor leader.

    However the current leaders – Kevin Rudd (38% good/34% poor) and Tony Abbott (30%/34%) – were both considered better than the leaders they succeeded.

    Among Liberal/National voters Tony Abbott was rated good by 63%, compared to John Howard at 86% and Malcolm Turnbull at 37%.

    Among Labor voters Kevin Rudd was rated good by 78%, compared to Paul Keating at 58% and Kim Beazley at 40%. Comments »

  • Feb, 2010

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    Approval of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott

    Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?

      Malcolm Turnbull Tony Abbott
    9 Feb 09 30 Mar 09 18 May 09 29 Jun 09 10 Aug 09 28 Sept 09 9 Nov 09 30 Nov 09 14 Dec 09 18 Jan 10 22 Feb 10
    Strongly approve 3% 3% 2% 4% 2% 3% 3% 2% 7% 5% 12%
    Approve 29% 25% 28% 20% 20% 24% 26% 23% 27% 32% 33%
    Disapprove 26% 31% 28% 31% 30% 35% 30% 33% 18% 20% 20%
    Strongly disapprove 17% 17% 21% 26% 28% 18% 20% 22% 18% 17% 16%
    Don’t know 24% 24% 21% 19% 20% 21% 20% 19% 31% 26% 18%
    Total approve 32% 28% 30% 24% 22% 27% 29% 25% 34% 37% 45%
    Total disapprove 43% 48% 49% 57% 58% 53% 50% 55% 36% 37% 36%

     Just under half (45%) of those surveyed approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader, 36% disapprove and 18% don’t know. This gives Tony Abbott a net approval rating of +9%.  

     This is the highest approval rating that has been recorded for Abbott in the Essential Report thus far and higher than Turnbull ever scored in our polling. 

     Results followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to approve of the job Abbott is doing (79%), while Labor voters were more likely to disapprove (58%).   28% of Labor voters approve of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader. 

     68% of Green voters disapprove of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 19% of these same voters approve.

     People aged 65 years and over were more likely to approve of the job Abbott is doing (68%), while younger voters were more likely to indicate they don’t know (37%). 

     Males were more likely than females to approve of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader (47% v 43%).  Comments »

  • Dec, 2009

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    Malcolm Turnbull’s Future Political Career

    Q. Do you think Malcolm Turnbull should now resign from Parliament, stay in parliament on the backbench until the next election or challenge for the leadership again before the next election?

    %
    Resign 18%
    Stay on backbench 45%
    Challenge again 15%
    Don’t know 23%

    Just under half (45%) think that Malcolm Turnbull should stay in parliament on the backbench until the next election, 18% think he should resign and 15% think Turnbull should challenge for the leadership again before the next election.

    Coalition voters were more likely to think that Turnbull should stay in parliament on the backbench (62%), while Green (28%) and Labor (18%) voters were more likely to think Turnbull should challenge again for the leadership.

    Males were more likely to think Turnbull should resign (20%) while females were more likely to indicate that they don’t know what Turnbull should do (29%).

    Comments »

  • Nov, 2009

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    Approval of the Opposition Leader

    Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Opposition Leader?

    12 Jan 09 9 Feb 09 30 Mar 09 18 May 09 29 Jun 09 10 Aug 09 28 Sept 09 9 Nov 09 30 Nov 09
    Strongly approve 4% 3% 3% 2% 4% 2% 3% 3% 2%
    Approve 37% 29% 25% 28% 20% 20% 24% 26% 23%
    Disapprove 21% 26% 31% 28% 31% 30% 35% 30% 33%
    Strongly disapprove 9% 17% 17% 21% 26% 28% 18% 20% 22%
    Don’t know 29% 24% 24% 21% 19% 20% 21% 20% 19%
    Total approve 41% 32% 28% 30% 24% 22% 27% 29% 25%
    Total disapprove 30% 43% 48% 49% 57% 58% 53% 50% 55%

    25% of people surveyed approve of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Opposition Leader and 55% disapprove.   Turnbull’s approval rating has decreased four percentage points since we last asked this question and his disapproval rating has seen five percent increase.

    Approval followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to approve (41%), while Labor voters were more likely to disapprove (62%).   However, just under half (46%) of Coalition voters disapprove of the job Turnbull is doing as Opposition Leader.

    Malcolm Turnbull’s net rating is -30%, compared to -21% earlier this month.

    Comments »

  • Nov, 2009

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    Preferred Liberal Party Leader

    Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?

    6 July 09

    Total

    17 Aug 09

    Total

    30 November 2009
    Total Labor Coalition Greens
    Joe Hockey 17% 16% 22% 27% 28% 14%
    Malcolm Turnbull 13% 12% 14% 15% 20% 14%
    Tony Abbott 7% 7% 9% 8% 13% 3%
    Julie Bishop 8% 6% 6% 7% 5% 9%
    Andrew Robb * 2% 2% 2% 2% *
    Someone else 20% 24% 19% 19% 14% 27%
    Don’t know 32% 33% 28% 22% 18% 33%

    * Not asked. Brendan Nelson (3%) and Greg Hunt (1%) were included in the July poll.

    22% of people think Joe Hockey would make the best leader of the Liberal Party, 14% prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 9% prefer Tony Abbott. Just under half (47%) do not think that any of those listed would be the best leader of the Liberal Party – 19% prefer someone else as leader and 28% don’t know.

    28% of Coalition voters think that Joe Hockey would make the best leader of the Liberal party, 20% of these same voters prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 13% prefer Tony Abbott.  Labor voters were more likely to think that Joe Hockey would make the best leader (27%).

    Comments »

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