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  • May, 2016

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    Policy on asylum seekers

    Q: If the Labor Party was elected into Government at the next election, do you think they would keep the Coalition Government’s policy on asylum seekers arriving by boat or do you think they would change the policy?

      Total   Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other
    Would keep the policy 28%   38% 27% 30% 26%
    Would change the policy 38%   26% 54% 29% 46%
    Don’t know 34%   36% 20% 41% 28%

    38% think that if the Labor Party is elected, they would change the Coalition Government’s policy on asylum seekers and 28% think they would keep the Coalition policy.

    More than half the Liberal/National voters think Labor would change the Coalition policy.

  • Mar, 2014

    Too soft or too tough on asylum seekers

    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

    Too tough

    25%

    37%

    6%

    79%

    25%

    7%

    12%

    22%

    Too soft

    28%

    28%

    29%

    15%

    33%

    63%

    60%

    25%

    Taking the right approach

    34%

    16%

    60%

    4%

    38%

    18%

    11%

    35%

    Don’t know

    13%

    19%

    5%

    3%

    4%

    12%

    17%

    18%

    28% think the Government is too soft on asylum seekers, 25% 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 tough has increased slightly from 22% to 25% – while too soft has also increased slightly from 25% to 28%. Those unable to give an opinion has dropped from 18% to 13%.

    Those most likely to think they are taking the right approach were Liberal/National voters (60%) and aged 55+ (48%).

  • Feb, 2014

    , , , , , , , , ,

    Government handling of issues

    Q. How would you rate the Federal Liberal-National Government for the way they have handled the following issues?

     

    Total good

    Total poor

    Net score

    Very good

    Good

    Average

    Poor

    Very poor

    Don’t know

    Managing the economy

    34%

    31%

    +3

    12%

    22%

    29%

    16%

    15%

    6%

    Treatment of asylum seekers

    37%

    36%

    +1

    18%

    19%

    18%

    11%

    25%

    9%

    Relations with other countries

    29%

    32%

    -3

    8%

    21%

    30%

    13%

    19%

    8%

    Education and schools

    28%

    35%

    -7

    6%

    22%

    28%

    19%

    16%

    8%

    Supporting Australian businesses

    27%

    34%

    -7

    8%

    19%

    31%

    18%

    16%

    8%

    Protecting the environment

    26%

    36%

    -10

    7%

    19%

    28%

    14%

    22%

    9%

    Social welfare

    27%

    39%

    -12

    8%

    19%

    26%

    17%

    22%

    8%

    Industrial relations

    26%

    38%

    -12

    9%

    17%

    27%

    18%

    20%

    9%

    Health services

    25%

    38%

    -13

    6%

    19%

    29%

    20%

    18%

    7%

    Climate change

    24%

    39%

    -15

    10%

    14%

    28%

    13%

    26%

    9%

    Supporting Australian jobs

    25%

    44%

    -19

    8%

    17%

    26%

    20%

    24%

    6%

    The Government received negative rating for all issues except managing the economy (34% good/31% poor) and treatment of asylum seekers (37%/36%).

    Highest negative ratings were given for supporting Australian jobs (25% good/44% poor), climate change (24%/39%), health services (25%/38%), industrial relations (26%/38%) and social welfare (27%/39%).

  • Jan, 2014

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    Whether asylum seekers are genuine refugees

    Q. As far as you know, are most asylum seekers arriving by in Australia boat genuine refugees or are most of them not genuine refugees?

     

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other

    Most of them are genuine refugees

    30%

    41%

    18%

    67%

    24%

    Most of them are not genuine refugees

    47%

    39%

    59%

    18%

    54%

    Don’t know

    23%

    20%

    23%

    15%

    22%

    47% of respondents believe that most asylum seekers arriving by boat are not genuine refugees – 30% believe most are genuine refugees.

    Those more likely to think most are not genuine refugees were Liberal/National voters (59%), aged 45+ (55%) and those who had not completed secondary education (58%). Those more likely to think most are genuine refugees were  Greens voters (67%), Labor voters (41%) and those with university education (36%).

  • Jan, 2014

    , , ,

    Treatment of asylum seekers

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

     

     

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other

    All asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat should be sent back to the country they came from even if they are genuine refugees

    26%

    20%

    36%

    8%

    27%

    Asylum seekers arriving by boat should be allowed to stay in Australia if they are found to be genuine refugees

    46%

    52%

    35%

    72%

    51%

    Asylum seekers arriving by boat should not be allowed to stay in Australia but be resettled in another country if they are found to be genuine refugees

    15%

    13%

    19%

    4%

    17%

    All asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat should be allowed to stay in Australia whether they are genuine refugees or not

    3%

    5%

    1%

    7%

    1%

    Don’t know

    10%

    10%

    9%

    9%

    4%

    46% think that asylum seekers arriving by boat should be allowed to stay in Australia if they are found to be genuine refugees and 26% think all asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat should be sent back to the country they came from even if they are genuine refugees. Only 15% think asylum seekers arriving by boat should not be allowed to stay in Australia but be resettled in another country if they are found to be genuine refugees.

    Those more likely to think they should be sent back to the country they came from were Liberal/National voters (36%), aged 55+ (32%) and those that had not completed secondary education (41%).

    Those more likely to think they should be allowed to stay in Australia if they are found to be genuine refugees were Greens voters (72%), Labor voters (52%) and those with university education (55%).

  • Jan, 2014

    , ,

    Too soft or too tough on asylum seekers

    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

    Too tough

    22%

    37%

    3%

    68%

    16%

    7%

    12%

    Too soft

    25%

    23%

    23%

    14%

    41%

    63%

    60%

    Taking the right approach

    35%

    19%

    61%

    5%

    25%

    18%

    11%

    Don’t know

    18%

    21%

    13%

    13%

    18%

    12%

    17%

    25% think the Government is too soft on asylum seekers, 22% think they are too tough and 35% think they are taking the right approach.

    Since this question was last asked in July 2012, those thinking the Governmemnt are too tough has increased from 12% to 22% – while too soft has declined from 60% to 25% and taking the right approach increased from 11% to 35%.

    Those most likely to think they are taking the right approach were Liberal/National voters (61%) and aged 55+ (47%).

  • Oct, 2013

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    Information about asylum seeker boat arrivals

    Q. Under previous Governments the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service has issued statements whenever an asylum-seeker boat arrived. Do you approve or disapprove of the Abbott Government’s decision to stop providing this information about the arrival of asylum-seeker boats?

     

    Total

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Total approve

    39%

    16%

    67%

    13%

    Total disapprove

    48%

    75%

    21%

    74%

    Strongly approve

    16%

    5%

    31%

    7%

    Approve

    23%

    11%

    36%

    6%

    Disapprove

    16%

    20%

    15%

    13%

    Strongly disapprove

    32%

    55%

    6%

    61%

    Don’t know

    13%

    9%

    12%

    12%

    39% approve of the Abbott Government’s decision to stop providing information about the arrival of asylum-seeker boats and 48% disapprove.

    Views are strongly associated with political party preference – 75% of Labor voters and 74% of Greens voters disapprove while 67% of Liberal/National voters approve.

  • Jul, 2013

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    Importance of asylum seeker issue

    Q. How important is the asylum seeker issue of in deciding which party you will vote for in the Federal election?

     

    Total

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

     

    17 Jun 13

    The most important issue

    7%

    6%

    8%

    4%

    6%

    One of the most important issues

    28%

    27%

    31%

    34%

    28%

    Quite important but not as important as other issues

    35%

    40%

    36%

    33%

    37%

    Not very important

    16%

    16%

    16%

    19%

    14%

    Not at all important

    8%

    7%

    8%

    9%

    10%

    Don’t know

    6%

    4%

    1%

    1%

    5%

    35% of respondents think the asylum seeker issue is the most important or one of the most important election issues.

    39% of Liberal/National voters think it is one of or the most important issues.

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