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  • Feb, 2012

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    Approval of Tony Abbott

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

    18 Jan

    2010

    5 Jul

    2010

    20 Dec 2010 14 Mar

    2011

    14 June 12 Sept 17 Oct 14 Nov 12 Dec 16 Jan 2012 13 Feb
    Total approve 37% 37% 39% 38% 38% 39% 40% 36% 32% 35% 35%
    Total disapprove 37% 47% 39% 47% 48% 50% 51% 52% 53% 51% 53%
    Strongly approve 5% 8% 9% 7% 6% 8% 8% 6% 6% 7% 6%
    Approve 32% 29% 30% 31% 32% 31% 32% 30% 26% 28% 29%
    Disapprove 20% 23% 21% 24% 25% 23% 23% 26% 25% 25% 23%
    Strongly disapprove 17% 24% 18% 23% 23% 27% 28% 26% 28% 26% 30%
    Don’t know 26% 16% 22% 16% 15% 11% 9% 12% 14% 13% 12%

    Tony Abbott’s approval rating has also changed little over the last month. 35% (no change) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 53% (up 2%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -16 to -18 over the last 4 weeks.

    67% (down 1%) of Coalition voters approve and 21% (no change) disapprove.

    By gender – men 40% approve/52% disapprove, women 31% approve/54% disapprove.

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  • Feb, 2012

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    Leaders at the Next Election

    Q. Do you think Julia Gillard will still be leading the Labor Party at the election due next year?

    Q. Do you think Tony Abbott will still be leading the Liberal Party at the election due next year?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Julia Gillard Yes 31% 54% 19% 43%
    No 47% 22% 70% 26%
    Don’t know 22% 24% 11% 31%
    Tony Abbott Yes 47% 37% 67% 34%
    No 25% 37% 12% 31%
    Don’t know 28% 26% 21% 35%

    31% think Julia Gillard will still be the leader of the Labor Party at the election due next year and 47% think she will not be the leader. Opinions are closely associated with party preference. 54% of Labor voters think she will still be the leader.

    47% think Tony Abbott will still be the leader of the Liberal Party at the election due next year and 25% think he will not be the leader. Opinions are closely associated with party preference. 67% of Liberal/National voters think he will still be the leader.

    Among non-major party voters, 36% think Julia Gillard will still be leading the Labor Party and 33% think Tony Abbott will still be leading the Liberal Party.

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  • Dec, 2011

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    2012 Outlook – Politicians

    Q. Do you think 2012 will be a good or bad year for each of the following politicians?

    Total good

    Dec 10

    Total bad

    Dec10

    Total good Total bad Very good Good Neither good nor bad Bad Very bad Don’t know
    Julia Gillard 28% 36% 19% 56% 4% 15% 17% 29% 27% 9%
    Tony Abbott 29% 27% 24% 38% 6% 18% 29% 24% 14% 10%
    Kevin Rudd 21% 30% 30% 25% 5% 25% 35% 17% 8% 10%
    Malcolm Turnbull 20% 21% 22% 22% 3% 19% 42% 17% 5% 14%
    Bob Brown 20% 30% 16% 39% 2% 14% 31% 20% 19% 14%

    Overall, there were negative expectations for the three party leaders – Julia Gillard (-37% net), Tony Abbott (-14%) and Bob Brown (-23%) while respondents were more evenly divided over Kevin Rudd (+5%) and Malcolm Turnbull (-).

    45% of Labor voters expect Julia Gillard to have a good year and 47% of Liberal/National voters expect Tony Abbott to have a good year.

    Compared to expectations 12 months ago, respondents were somewhat less positive about all party leaders – Julia Gillard has dropped form net -8% to net -37%, Tony Abbott from +2% to -14% and Bob Brown from -10% to -23%.

    Comparing these results with last week’s questions, respondents expect 2012 to be similar 2011 for Julia Gillard (net -37% next year compared to -36% this year) and Tony Abbott (-14% next year, -17% this year). However, Bob Brown is expected to have a worse year in 2012 (net -23%) than this year (+5%).

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  • Dec, 2011

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    Leaders in 12 Months

    Q. Do you think Julia Gillard will still be leading the Labor Party in 12 months time?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Yes 26% 49% 12% 37%
    No 55% 31% 76% 45%
    Don’t know 19% 21% 12% 18%

    Q. Do you think Tony Abbott will still be leading the Liberal Party in 12 months time?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Yes 41% 26% 64% 29%
    No 34% 53% 16% 53%
    Don’t know 25% 21% 20% 18%

    Only 26% believe that Julia Gillard will still be leader of the Labor Party in 12 months time and 55% think she will not. Respondents were more likely to think that Tony Abbott would still be leading his party (41% yes, 34% no).

    49% of Labor voters think Julia Gillard will still be leading her party, compared to 64% of Liberal/National voters who think Tony Abbott will still be leading his party.

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  • Sep, 2011

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    Best Leader for GFC

    Q. If there was another global financial crisis or a recession, which of the following would be best to lead Australia?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Kevin Rudd 24% 34% 13% 37%
    Tony Abbott 20% 4% 44%
    Julia Gillard 13% 42% 1% 18%
    Malcolm Turnbull 13% 7% 17% 17%
    Joe Hockey 7% 1% 11% 3%
    Don’t know 22% 12% 15% 25%

    24% think Kevin Rudd would be best to lead Australia if there was another GFC and 20% favour Tony Abbott.

    Among Labor voters Julia Gillard is preferred over Kevin Rudd 42% to 34%. Support for the current party leaders among their own voters is very similar – 42% of Labor voters prefer Julia Gillard and 44% of Liberal/National voters prefer Tony Abbott.

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  • Aug, 2011

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    Preferred Leader of the Labor Party

    Q. If you were able to choose any politician to be leader of the Labor Party, which of the following would you prefer? (This question was commissioned by Network Ten).

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Men Women Age

    18-34

    Aged

    35-54

    Aged 55+
    Kevin Rudd 37% 43% 36% 35% 40% 33% 40% 39% 30%
    Julia Gillard 12% 31% 2% 24% 10% 13% 12% 12% 12%
    Malcolm Turnbull 11% 6% 17% 7% 12% 10% 10% 9% 15%
    Stephen Smith 7% 6% 9% 2% 7% 6% 3% 6% 12%
    Bob Brown 3% 2% 2% 11% 3% 3% 2% 3% 4%
    Greg Combet 2% 2% 1% 2% 3% 2% 2% 1% 3%
    Bill Shorten 1% 1% 2% 1% 2% 1% 1% 2% 2%
    Don’t know 28% 9% 32% 18% 22% 33% 31% 28% 22%

    37% of respondents prefer Kevin Rudd as leader of the Labor Party, 12% prefer Julia Gillard and 11% Malcolm Turnbull.

    Among Labor voters, 43% prefer Kevin Rudd and 31% Julia Gillard.

    Kevin Rudd is more preferred by younger respondents while those aged 55+ were more likely than the average to prefer Malcolm Turnbull (15%) and Stephen Smith (12%).

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  • Jun, 2011

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    Is Australia a Better/Worse Place?

    Q. Do you think Australia has become a better or worse place in the year since Julia Gillard became PM? (This question has been commissioned by Network Ten)

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Men Women Age

    18-34

    Aged

    35-54

    Aged 55+
    A better place 13% 32% 4% 22% 16% 11% 16% 11% 11%
    A worse place 51% 17% 82% 27% 57% 46% 42% 53% 61%
    A much better place 3% 9% 1% 2% 5% 2% 2% 3% 3%
    A better place 10% 23% 3% 20% 11% 9% 14% 8% 8%
    A worse place 32% 14% 47% 24% 34% 30% 31% 33% 32%
    A much worse place 19% 3% 35% 3% 23% 16% 11% 20% 29%
    No change 29% 44% 12% 46% 24% 34% 30% 30% 25%
    Don’t know 7% 6% 3% 5% 5% 9% 12% 6% 3%

    Half the people surveyed (51%) think Australia has become a worse place in the year since Julia Gillard became PM. 13% think it has become a better place and 29% say there has been no change.

    82% of Liberal/National voters think it has become a worse place while 46% of Greens voters and 44% of Labor voters think there has been no change.

    The most negative groups were men (57% worse) and those aged 55+ (61% worse).

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  • Jun, 2011

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    Important election issues

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

    One Two Three Total 24 Jan 11 11 Oct 10 25 Jan 10
    Management of the economy 34% 18% 9% 61% 65% 62% 63%
    Ensuring a quality education for all children 6% 10% 10% 26% 26% 32% 23%
    Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system 15% 15% 19% 49% 49% 48% 48%
    Protecting the environment 4% 6% 5% 15% 13% 12% 16%
    A fair industrial relations system 2% 3% 3% 8% 10% 11% *
    Political leadership 6% 6% 5% 17% 16% 16% 23%
    Addressing climate change 6% 4% 5% 15% 10% 11% 16%
    Controlling interest rates 3% 5% 5% 13% 21% 17% 15%
    Australian jobs and protection of local industries 9% 11% 12% 32% 30% 30% 33%
    Ensuring a quality water supply 1% 1% 3% 5% 6% 6% 12%
    Housing affordability 4% 6% 6% 16% 16% 17% 14%
    Ensuring a fair taxation system 3% 6% 8% 17% 18% 16% 14%
    Security and the war on terrorism 2% 2% 4% 8% 5% 6% 9%
    Treatment of asylum seekers 1% 2% 2% 5% 5% 5% *
    Managing population growth 2% 4% 6% 12% 11% 10% *

    *Not asked

    61% of people surveyed rated management of the economy as one of their three most important issues, followed by 49% ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system and 32% Australian jobs and protection of local industries.

    Since January, there has been an increase in the importance of addressing climate change (from 10% to 15%) and a decrease in the importance of controlling interest rates (from 21% to 13%).

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