approach to asylum seekers, asylum seeker
Q. Do you think the Federal Liberal/National Government is too tough or too soft on asylum seekers or is it taking the right approach?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Oct 2010 | Jul 2012 | Jan 2014 | Mar 2014 | Jul 2014 | Jan 2015 | |||
| Too tough | 22% | 31% | 6% | 67% | 26% | 7% | 12% | 22% | 25% | 27% | 26% | ||
| Too soft | 27% | 27% | 27% | 12% | 36% | 63% | 60% | 25% | 28% | 18% | 23% | ||
| Taking the right approach | 34% | 24% | 58% | 8% | 20% | 18% | 11% | 35% | 34% | 36% | 35% | ||
| Don’t know | 17% | 17% | 9% | 13% | 18% | 12% | 17% | 18% | 13% | 18% | 16% |
27% think the Government is too soft on asylum seekers, 22% think they are too tough and 34% think they are taking the right approach.
Since this question was last asked in January, those thinking the Government are too soft has increased a little from 23% to 27%.
Those most likely to think they are taking the right approach were Liberal/National voters (58%) and aged 55+ (46%).
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seeker issue, asylum seeker policy
Q. Which of the following words would you use to describe the Government’s handling of the issue of asylum seekers?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
|
Men |
Women |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
|
| Responsible |
45% |
26% |
75% |
14% |
42% |
50% |
40% |
30% |
43% |
64% |
||
| Fair |
45% |
25% |
76% |
10% |
44% |
48% |
41% |
29% |
43% |
66% |
||
| Too secretive |
45% |
69% |
16% |
75% |
54% |
44% |
46% |
50% |
45% |
40% |
||
| Just playing politics |
45% |
65% |
20% |
66% |
56% |
48% |
41% |
51% |
45% |
36% |
||
| Principled |
43% |
28% |
69% |
25% |
29% |
49% |
36% |
30% |
45% |
54% |
||
| Stubborn |
42% |
57% |
24% |
72% |
44% |
43% |
41% |
47% |
39% |
42% |
||
| Balanced |
37% |
20% |
65% |
13% |
26% |
42% |
32% |
23% |
37% |
54% |
||
| Unethical |
33% |
50% |
10% |
69% |
37% |
32% |
35% |
41% |
32% |
26% |
||
| Populist |
31% |
38% |
23% |
37% |
37% |
36% |
25% |
28% |
33% |
31% |
||
| Cruel |
30% |
46% |
10% |
64% |
34% |
29% |
32% |
39% |
29% |
23% |
||
| Too hard |
29% |
44% |
10% |
61% |
32% |
27% |
31% |
36% |
28% |
23% |
||
| Too soft |
26% |
22% |
30% |
12% |
37% |
29% |
24% |
19% |
27% |
34% |
Respondents were more likely to describe the Government’s handling of the issue of asylum seekers as “responsible” and “fair” but also as “too secretive” and “just playing politics” (all 45%). 26% describe their handling of the issue as “too soft”, 29% as “too hard” and 30% as “cruel”.
Liberal/National voters were most likely to think the handling was “fair” (76%) and “responsible” (75%).
Labor voters were most likely to think the handling was “too secretive” (69%) and “just playing politics” (65%).
Greens voters were most likely to think the handling was “too secretive” (75%), “stubborn” (72%) and “unethical” (69%).
Of those aged under 35, only 23% thought the handling of the issue was “balanced” and 29% thought it was “fair”.
approach to asylum seekers, asy, asylum seeker policy
Q. Do you think the Federal Liberal/National Government is too tough or too soft on asylum seekers or is it taking the right approach?
|
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
Oct 10 |
Jul 12 |
Jan 14 |
Mar 14 |
| Too tough |
27% |
46% |
5% |
71% |
21% |
7% |
12% |
22% |
25% |
||
| Too soft |
18% |
17% |
20% |
8% |
24% |
63% |
60% |
25% |
28% |
||
| Taking the right approach |
36% |
19% |
65% |
7% |
37% |
18% |
11% |
35% |
34% |
||
| Don’t know |
18% |
19% |
9% |
14% |
17% |
12% |
17% |
18% |
13% |
18% think the Government is too soft on asylum seekers, 27% think they are too tough and 36% think they are taking the right approach.
Since this question was last asked in March, those thinking the Government are too tough has increased slightly from 25% to 27% – while too soft has declined from 28% to 18%. Those unable to give an opinion has increased from 13% to 18%.
Those most likely to think they are taking the right approach were Liberal/National voters (65%) and aged 55+ (52%).
050813, 5 August 2013, approach to asylum seekers, kevin rudd, Operation sovereign borders, PNG policy, tony abbott
Q. The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Opposition leader Tony Abbott have both recently made statements about the handling of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat.
Do you think Kevin Rudd’s approach to handling asylum seekers is too harsh, too soft or about right?
Do you think Tony Abbott’s approach to handling asylum seekers is too harsh, too soft or about right?
|
Kevin Rudd |
|
Tony Abbott |
|||||||
|
Total
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Total
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Too harsh |
20% |
19% |
18% |
49% |
21% |
38% |
5% |
42% |
|
| Too soft |
24% |
12% |
35% |
13% |
20% |
21% |
16% |
21% |
|
| About right |
40% |
53% |
33% |
25% |
31% |
11% |
61% |
7% |
|
| Don’t know |
16% |
16% |
14% |
13% |
27% |
31% |
18% |
30% |
|
40% of respondents think Kevin Rudd’s approach to handling asylum seekers is about right and 31% think Tony Abbott’s approach is about right. Views are similar for both approaches in terms of whether they are too soft or too harsh – about one in five selected each option.
Kevin Rudd’s approach was more favoured by Labor voters (53%), aged 45-64 (45%) and tradespeople (51%). Tony Abbott’s approach was more favoured by Liberal/National voters (61%), men (37%), aged 65+ (46%) and tradespeople (40%).
29 July 2013, 290713, approach to asylum seekers, asylum seeker policy
Q. Which party has the best policy for handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
17 Jun 13 |
|
| Labor |
25% |
58% |
4% |
10% |
13% |
||
| Liberal |
26% |
3% |
57% |
2% |
38% |
||
| Greens |
6% |
5% |
1% |
44% |
7% |
||
| None of them |
28% |
21% |
25% |
29% |
31% |
||
| Don’t know |
15% |
13% |
13% |
15% |
11% |
26% (down 12% since June) think the Liberal Party has the best policy for handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat and 25% (up 12%) think the Labor Party has the best policy. 28% think no party has the best policy.
58% (up 22%) of Labor voters think the Labor Party has the best policy compared with 57% (down 17%) of Liberal/National voters who think the Liberals have the best policy.
Of those who think the asylum seeker issue is one of or the most important election issue, 35% think that Labor has the best policy, 29% think the Liberals have the best policy and 17% think none of them do.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, boat people, Essential Report, human rights, Polling, Processing Asylum Seekers
Q. Thinking about asylum seekers arriving in Australia, how important do you think each of the following features are for a good refugee processing system?
| Very important | Important | Not very important | Not at all important | Don’t know | Total Important | Total Not Important | ||
| Stopping the boats | 52% | 22% | 11% | 8% | 7% | 74% | 19% | |
| Keeping costs down | 47% | 34% | 11% | 2% | 6% | 81% | 13% | |
| Protecting human rights | 42% | 38% | 9% | 5% | 6% | 80% | 14% | |
| Avoiding prolonged detention | 35% | 33% | 13% | 12% | 8% | 68% | 25% | |
| Making sure children have their claims processed in Australia | 26% | 32% | 18% | 13% | 11% | 58% | 31% | |
| Allowing Australian courts to review claims | 22% | 34% | 16% | 16% | 12% | 56% | 32% | |
| Approval from the United Nations | 22% | 32% | 20% | 16% | 11% | 54% | 36% | |
| Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled | 20% | 29% | 18% | 20% | 13% | 49% | 38% |
Please note: ‘Total Important’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘Very Important’ and ‘Important’ together. ‘Total Not Important’ is an aggregate figure that has been achieved by adding ‘Not very important’ and ‘Not at all important’ together.
The most important feature of a ‘good refugee processing system’ is ‘keeping the costs down’, with 81% of respondents regarding this to be either very important or important, followed by ‘protecting human rights’ (80% total important).
Seventy four per cent (74%) of respondents believed that ‘stopping the boats’ is an important feature and 68% regard ‘avoiding prolonged detention’ to be an important feature.
Amongst the least important features of a good refugee processing system is ‘approval from the United Nations’, with only 54% regarding this to be important and 36% viewing it as not important.
Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled was the least important attribute, with only 49% believing it to be important and 38% regarding it as not important.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, boat people, Essential Report, Polling, Processing Asylum Seekers
Q. Thinking about the issue of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat – do you think they should be processed in Australia or should they be sent to another country for processing?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Process in Australia | 36% | 44% | 27% | 73% |
| Sent to another country | 53% | 44% | 65% | 15% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 12% | 8% | 12% |
53% favour sending asylum seekers to another country for processing and 36% favour processing them in Australia. Liberal/National voters strongly favour sending them to another country (65%), Greens voters strongly favour processing them in Australia (73%) and Labor voters are split (44%/44%).
Respondents aged under 35 are split (43% Australia/41% another country) but older respondents strongly favour processing overseas (aged 55+ = 62% another country/32% Australia).
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Malaysia, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. The Government has proposed sending asylum seekers arriving by boat to Malaysia for processing and the Opposition has proposed sending asylum seekers to Nauru. Which of these two options do you favour?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Malaysia | 16% | 29% | 12% | 9% |
| Nauru | 34% | 18% | 55% | 12% |
| Neither | 30% | 34% | 18% | 61% |
| Don’t know | 20% | 20% | 14% | 18% |
34% favoured sending asylum seekers to Nauru and 16% favoured Malaysia, with a further 30% selecting ‘neither’.
Labor (34%) and Green voters (61%) were most likely to favour ‘neither’ – Liberal/National voters were most likely to favour Nauru (55%).
Males (37%) were more likely than females (31%) to favour Nauru. Females were more likely to select Don’t Know (25%).
Older respondents were more likely to favour Nauru – 48% of those aged 55+.
Younger respondents were more likely to select ‘neither’ – 37% of those aged 18-34.