Most significant political event
Q. What do you think was the most significant political event of 2012?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Implementation of the carbon tax |
41% |
40% |
44% |
52% |
| Rudd leadership challenge |
14% |
16% |
14% |
12% |
| Reopening asylum seeker detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru |
9% |
7% |
11% |
8% |
| AWU slush fund allegations against the Prime Minister |
7% |
1% |
14% |
- |
| Julia Gillard’s sexism speech in Parliament |
6% |
11% |
2% |
3% |
| Bipartisan support for National Disability Insurance Scheme |
5% |
9% |
3% |
4% |
| Australia winning a seat on the UN Security Council |
5% |
8% |
3% |
4% |
| Don’t know |
13% |
8% |
8% |
16% |
41% think the most significant political event of the year was the implementation of the carbon tax and 14% think it was the Rudd leadership challenge.
All voter groups thought the implementation of the carbon tax was the most significant event.
Liberal/National voters were more likely to think the AWU slush fund allegations against the Prime Minister was most significant (14%) while Labor voters were more likely to think Julia Gillard’s sexism speech in Parliament was most significant (11%).
Kevin Rudd’s Future
Q. What do you think Kevin Rudd should do now?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Stay in Parliament and challenge again |
29% |
30% |
28% |
29% |
| Stay in Parliament and not challenge again |
28% |
44% |
17% |
46% |
| Resign from Parliament |
30% |
17% |
44% |
20% |
| Don’t know |
13% |
8% |
10% |
5% |
Respondents were divided about what Kevin Rudd should do – 30% say he should resign from parliament, 29% think he should stay and challenge again and 28% think he should stay and not challenge again.
Among Labor voters, 44% think he should stay and not challenge, while 44% of Liberal/National voters think he should resign from Parliament. 46% of Greens voters think he should stay in Parliament and not challenge again.
Approval of Julia Gillard
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| Kevin Rudd | Julia Gillard | ||||||||||
| 31 May
2010 |
19 Jul | 20 Sep | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | 11 July | |
| Total approve | 41% | 52% | 45% | 43% | 51% | 48% | 41% | 37% | 41% | 34% | 29% |
| Total disapprove | 47% | 30% | 37% | 40% | 36% | 41% | 46% | 50% | 48% | 54% | 62% |
| Strongly approve | 7% | 11% | 12% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 5% |
| Approve | 34% | 41% | 33% | 33% | 43% | 39% | 34% | 30% | 34% | 28% | 24% |
| Disapprove | 25% | 17% | 21% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 26% | 29% | 30% |
| Strongly disapprove | 22% | 13% | 16% | 16% | 12% | 16% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 32% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 18% | 19% | 17% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 13% | 9% |
29% (down 5%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 62% (up 8%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -20 to -33 over the last 4 weeks.
72% of Labor voters approve (down 4%) and 20% disapprove (up 6%).
By gender – men 31% approve/63% disapprove, women 28% approve/61% disapprove.
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 »
Federal politics – voting intention
Q. If there was a Federal election held today, to which party would you probably give your first preference?
Q. If you ‘don’t know’ on the above question, which party are you currently leaning to?
1,803sample size
| First preference/leaning to | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Liberal | 34% | 39% | 38% | 37% | 36% |
| National | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Total Lib/Nat | 37% | 41% | 41% | 40% | 39% |
| Labor | 47% | 39% | 35% | 38% | 42% |
| Greens | 8% | 9% | 14% | 11% | 9% |
| Family First | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Other/Independent | 6% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 7% |
| 2PP | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Total Lib/Nat | 43% | 49% | 49% | 48% | 46% |
| Labor | 57% | 51% | 51% | 52% | 54% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived the first preference/leaning to voting questions. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results.
* Sample is the aggregation of two weeks’ polling data. Comments »
Changing Leaders – Approval
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of Julia Gillard replacing Kevin Rudd as leader of the Labor Party and Prime Minister?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| Total approve | 47% | 68% | 36% |
| Total disapprove | 40% | 23% | 60% |
| Strongly approve | 15% | 27% | 10% |
| Approve | 32% | 41% | 26% |
| Disapprove | 19% | 11% | 26% |
| Strongly disapprove | 21% | 12% | 34% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 9% | 5% |
Sample = 818
47% approved the change from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard as Prime Minister and 40% disapproved. Opinions reflected political party preferences. Labor voters strongly approved the change by 68% to 23% while 60% of Liberal/National voters disapproved and 36% approved. There were no significant differences by gender. However, older respondents were more likely to approve than younger respondents – 55% of those aged 55+ approved and 37% disapproved. Comments »
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | 21 Jun 10 | ||
| Julia Gillard | 49% | 86% | 12% | 50% | |
| Tony Abbott | 29% | 4% | 73% | 32% | |
| Don’t know | 22% | 11% | 12% | 18% |
Sample = 818
49% preferred Julia Gillard as Prime Minister and 29% preferred Tony Abbott – similar to the results from last week before Julia Gillard became Prime Minister. This is also slightly better than last week’s result for Kevin Rudd when he was preferred over Tony Abbott by 47% to 30%. Men preferred Julia Gillard 47%/33% and women 51%/25%. Comments »
Best Leader – Rudd/Abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | 22 Mar 10 | ||
| Kevin Rudd | 47% | 90% | 9% | 50% | |
| Tony Abbott | 30% | 3% | 80% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 23% | 7% | 11% | 19% |
47% believe that Kevin Rudd would make the best Prime Minister and 30% preferred Tony Abbott. This is little changed since the last time this question was asked when Kevin Rudd was preferred 50% to 30%.
Men preferred Kevin Rudd by 45% to 38%, whereas women were much less likely to prefer Tony Abbott (Rudd 49%, Abbott 23%). Greens voters preferred Kevin Rudd 64% to 9%. Comments »
Best Leader – Rudd/Gillard
Q7. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | 15 Feb 10 | ||
| Kevin Rudd | 36% | 56% | 26% | 45% | |
| Julia Gillard | 33% | 30% | 36% | 26% | |
| Don’t know | 31% | 14% | 38% | 29% |
Respondents were fairly evenly split over whether Kevin Rudd (36%) or Julia Gillard (33%) would make the better Prime Minister. This is a substantial change since this question was last asked in February – Julia Gillard up 7% and Kevin Rudd down 9%.
Labor voters preferred Kevin Rudd (56% to 30%) and Liberal voters preferred Julia Gillard (36% to 26%). Greens voters preferred Julia Gillard by 62% to 18%.
Men show greater support for Kevin Rudd (40%/33%) whereas women were evenly divided (32%/34%). Comments »
Approval of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister?
| 30 Mar 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 22 Feb 10 | 29 Mar 10 | 3 May 10 | 31 May 10 | |
| Strongly approve | 21% | 14% | 15% | 9% | 10% | 11% | 11% | 12% | 8% | 7% |
| Approve | 50% | 48% | 51% | 47% | 47% | 44% | 41% | 41% | 38% | 34% |
| Disapprove | 14% | 18% | 17% | 20% | 20% | 19% | 20% | 22% | 25% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 7% | 9% | 6% | 15% | 12% | 14% | 17% | 14% | 17% | 22% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 10% | 12% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| Total approve | 71% | 62% | 66% | 56% | 57% | 55% | 52% | 53% | 46% | 41% |
| Total disapprove | 21% | 29% | 23% | 35% | 32% | 33% | 37% | 36% | 42% | 47% |
Kevin Rudd’s net approval rating has fallen to a net negative for the first time since he became Prime Minister. 41% approve (down 5%) of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister and 47% disapprove (up 5%).
89% of Labor voters approve and 87% of Liberal/National voters disapprove. Greens voters are split 48% approve/45% disapprove.
Younger people are more likely to approve of Kevin Rudd’s performance than older people. Those aged under 35 were net positive (45% approve/33% disapprove) and those aged 55+ strongly negative (31% approve/64% disapprove). Comments »
Opinion of Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party
Opinion of Kevin Rudd an the Labor Party
Q. Would you say that your view of Kevin Rudd and the Labor Government has become more or less favourable in recent weeks?
| Total more favourable | 11% |
| Total less favourable | 58% |
| Much more favourable | 3% |
| A little more favourable | 8% |
| A little less favourable | 25% |
| Much less favourable | 33% |
| No change | 26% |
| Don’t know | 3% |
58% of respondents said their view of Kevin Rudd and the Labor Government had become less favourable over recent weeks and 11% said they had become more favourable.
22% of Labor voters said they had become more favourable and 31% less favourable. Coalition voters split 4% more favourable/81% less favourable and Greens voters 23% more favourable/58% less favourable.
47% of those aged under 35 were less favourable compared to 66% of those aged 45+. Comments »
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 20 May 2013
In this week's report:
3Q: Latest episodes
-
Essential Report with EMC’s Peter Lewis and Jackie Woods
Comments19 Sep 2012Lewis and Woods talk through this week’s polling numbers: voting intention, leader attributes, drug laws in Australia, and more…
-
Are we ready for the grey revolution?
Comments12 Sep 2012Ken Morrison says our cities need to be transformed for our ageing population – and it’s not solely about nursing homes.
-
Ships, trains and submarines — can we build them here?
Comments11 Sep 2012Tim Ayres wishes Clive Palmer and other mining giants would give local manufacturers a go instead of heading overseas.
-
Do we undervalue our public sector innovations?
Comments11 Sep 2012Nadine Flood questions whether governments take our science and other publicly funded breakthroughs for granted.
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