The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report

  • Mar, 2015

    Spending on anti-terrorism

    Q. Do you think the Australian Government should be spending more or less on anti-terrorism measures or is current spending about right?

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other

     

    Aug 2014

    Spending more

    39%

    38%

    47%

    19%

    46%

    28%

    Spending less

    12%

    13%

    5%

    37%

    14%

    19%

    Current spending about right

    33%

    31%

    41%

    26%

    25%

    36%

    Don’t know

    16%

    17%

    6%

    18%

    14%

    16%

     

    39% think the Australian Government should be spending more on anti-terrorism measures – up 11% since August.  12% (down 7%) think they should be spending less – 33% (down 3%) think the current spending is about right.

    Those most likely to support spending more were aged 45+ (48%) and Liberal/National voters (47%).

  • Sep, 2014

    ,

    Detention without charge

    Q. Do you agree or disagree with restrictions such as detention of people without charging them in relation to allegations of terrorism?

     

    Total

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other

    Total agree

    59%

    58%

    78%

    19%

    58%

    Total disagree

    24%

    26%

    10%

    64%

    30%

    Strongly agree

    28%

    23%

    43%

    7%

    28%

    Agree

    31%

    35%

    35%

    12%

    30%

    Disagree

    14%

    18%

    7%

    20%

    19%

    Strongly disagree

    10%

    8%

    3%

    44%

    11%

    Don’t know

    17%

    16%

    12%

    16%

    12%

    59% agree with restrictions such as detention of people without charging them in relation to allegations of terrorism and 24% disagree.

    Those most likely to agree were Liberal/National voters (78%), aged 55+ (70%) and people who hadn’t completed secondary education (67%).

    Those most likely to disagree were Greens voters (64%) and university educated (32%).

  • Aug, 2014

    ,

    Spending on anti-terrorism

    Q. Do you think the Australian Government should be spending more or less on anti-terrorism measures or is current spending about right?

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other

    Spending more

    28%

    23%

    39%

    15%

    28%

    Spending less

    19%

    22%

    12%

    37%

    21%

    Current spending about right

    36%

    40%

    37%

    22%

    40%

    Don’t know

    16%

    15%

    12%

    26%

    11%

    28% think the Australian Government should be spending more on anti-terrorism measures and 19% think they should be spending less – 36% think the current spending is about right.

    Those most likely to support spending more were aged 55+ (40%), Liberal/National voters (39%) and those who had not completed secondary education (38%).

    Those most likely to support spending less were aged under 25 (27%), Greens voters (37%) and those with university education (26%).

  • Aug, 2014

    , , ,

    Opinion of retaining personal information

    Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?

    Total

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote Other

    Governments having access to personal telephone and internet information is necessary to protect society from terrorist or criminal actions.

    37%

    23%

    62%

    17%

    26%

    Governments are increasingly using the argument about terrorism to collect and store personal data and information, and this is a dangerous direction for society

    49%

    63%

    27%

    80%

    60%

    Don’t know

    13%

    14%

    11%

    3%

    14%

    49% of respondents agreed more with the statement that “Governments are increasingly using the argument about terrorism to collect and store personal data and information, and this is a dangerous direction for society “ and 37% agreed more with “Governments having access to personal telephone and internet information is necessary to protect society from terrorist or criminal actions”.

    A majority of Liberal/National voters (62%) agreed more with “Governments having access to personal telephone and internet information is necessary to protect society from terrorist or criminal actions” while all other voter groups agreed more with the alternative statement.

    55% of those aged 55+ also agreed more with the first statement and a majority of all other age groups agreed more with the second.

  • Oct, 2013

    , , ,

    Justification for information collection

    Q. The US government says the collection of phone and internet records is necessary in order to protect national security and fight terrorism.

    Do you agree or disagree that governments are justified in collecting information on all people regardless of whether there is any suspicion of wrongdoing?

     

     

    Agree

    42%

    Disagree

    45%

    Strongly agree

    10%

    Agree

    32%

    Disagree

    23%

    Strongly disagree

    22%

    Don’t know

    13%

    42% of people agree that governments are justified in collecting information on all people regardless of whether these is any suspicion of wrongdoing. 45% disagree.

    Liberal/National voters (57%) were more likely to agree. Labor (56%) and Green (58%) voters were more likely to disagree.

  • Jul, 2012

    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Important election issues

    Q.  Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election?

     

    First

    Second

    Third

    Total

    30 Jul 12

    5 Dec 11

    6 June 11

    25 Jan 10

    Management of the economy

    38%

    16%

    10%

    64%

    62%

    61%

    63%

    Ensuring a quality education for all children

    5%

    10%

    11%

    26%

    22%

    26%

    23%

    Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system

    10%

    19%

    18%

    47%

    47%

    49%

    48%

    Protecting the environment

    3%

    4%

    4%

    11%

    13%

    15%

    16%

    A fair industrial relations system

    4%

    3%

    5%

    12%

    11%

    8%

    *

    Political leadership

    11%

    7%

    7%

    25%

    18%

    17%

    23%

    Addressing climate change

    3%

    3%

    3%

    9%

    10%

    15%

    16%

    Controlling interest rates

    2%

    2%

    5%

    9%

    11%

    13%

    15%

    Australian jobs and protection of local industries

    13%

    15%

    13%

    41%

    36%

    32%

    33%

    Ensuring a quality water supply

    *

    1%

    2%

    3%

    4%

    5%

    12%

    Housing affordability

    3%

    5%

    5%

    13%

    13%

    16%

    14%

    Ensuring a fair taxation system

    4%

    7%

    7%

    18%

    16%

    17%

    14%

    Security and the war on terrorism

    1%

    1%

    3%

    5%

    4%

    8%

    9%

    Treatment of asylum seekers

    3%

    4%

    3%

    10%

    8%

    5%

    *

    Managing population growth

    2%

    3%

    3%

    8%

    8%

    12%

    *

    *Not asked

    64% of people surveyed rated management of the economy as one of their three most important issues, followed by 47% ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system and 41% Australian jobs and protection of local industries.

    Since December, there has been an increase in the importance of political leadership (+7%), Australian jobs and protection of local industries (+5%) and ensuring a quality education for all children (+4%).

  • Apr, 2012

    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Role of Government

    Q.  For each of the following issues, do you think the Government does too much, too little or just about the right amount:

     

    Too much

    Too little

    About right

    Don’t know

     Providing quality health care services

    2%

    74%

    19%

    5%

     Protecting citizens from industrial and other kinds of pollution.

    10%

    43%

    36%

    11%

     Making sure the banks and other large financial institutions operate honestly and treat their clients fairly

    3%

    62%

    28%

    6%

     Making sure that the roads, bridges and other public transportation facilities are in good repair and safe.

    1%

    63%

    30%

    5%

     Ensuring that there is adequate, affordable and accessible public transport.

    2%

    67%

    25%

    6%

    Ensuring that our population is protected from crime, terrorism and other threats.

    5%

    47%

    41%

    7%

    Providing a quality education system

    2%

    54%

    37%

    7%

    Respondents were more likely to think the Government does too little on each of the issues measured.

    In particular, they think the Government does too little in terms of health care services (74%), adequate, affordable and accessible public transport (67%), roads, bridges and other public transportation (63%) and making sure the banks and other large financial institutions operate honestly and treat their clients fairly (62%).

    Issues over which they were more divided were protecting citizens from industrial and other kinds of pollution (46% about right/too much) and ensuring that our population is protected from crime, terrorism and other threats (46% about right/too much).

    Comments »

  • Sep, 2011

    , , ,

    World Safer Place Post 9/11

    Q. Thinking about the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre 10 years ago – do you think the world is a safer or less safe place than it was 10 years ago?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total safer 23% 25% 26% 16%
    Total less safe 31% 26% 32% 29%
    A lot safer 5% 7% 5% 2%
    A little safer 18% 18% 21% 14%
    About the same 42% 44% 39% 52%
    A little less safe 18% 16% 19% 21%
    A lot less safe 13% 10% 13% 8%
    Don’t know 4% 5% 3% 3%

    In total, more respondents feel that the world is now less safe (31% total less safe) than 10 years ago, with 23% feeling that it is safer.

    Those aged between 18-24 years old are more likely to regard the world as safer, with 29% stating that it is either a lot safer or a little safer (total safer).  Twenty five per cent (25%) of 18-24 year olds stated that the world is either a little less safe or a lot less safe than 10 years ago (total less safe).

    Greens voters are the least likely to regard the world as a safer place (16% total safer) in the 10 years post 9-11.  Lib/Nat voters are the most likely to regard the world as less safe (32% total less safe) than 10 years ago.

    Comments »

Error: