Party best at looking after the economy
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – do you think is best when it comes to:
| Liberal | Labor | No Diff-erence | Don’t Know | Diff-erence Liberal – Labor | Mar 2016 diff-erence | ||
| Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests | 48% | 15% | 22% | 15% | +33 | +37 | |
| Handling the economy overall | 35% | 24% | 25% | 16% | +11 | +13 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business | 33% | 24% | 25% | 18% | +9 | +13 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class | 30% | 30% | 24% | 15% | – | +3 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that helps you and people like you the most. | 28% | 30% | 25% | 17% | -2 | -4 | |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you | 27% | 35% | 23% | 15% | -8 | -6 | |
| Standing up for the middle class in Australia | 26% | 34% | 24% | 15% | -8 | -7 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that tries to take the interests of working families into consideration as much as it takes the interests of the large corporate and financial groups | 24% | 33% | 25% | 17% | -9 | -7 | |
| Representing the interests of Australian working families | 20% | 42% | 23% | 14% | -22 | -21 | |
| Being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests | 18% | 43% | 24% | 14% | -25 | -22 |
Labor was more likely to be selected as the party best at all of the items, except for ‘Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests’ (48% Liberal, 15% Labor), ‘Handling the economy overall’ (35% Liberal, 24% Labor), ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business’ (33% Liberal, 24% Labor) and ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class’ (30% Liberal, 30% Labor).
Since this question was asked in March, the main shifts have been for ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business’ (4% to Labor) and “Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests” (4% to Labor).
Party best at looking after the economy
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – do you think is best when it comes to:
| Labor | Liberal | No Diff-erence | Don’t Know | May 2014 diff-erence | |
| Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests | 13% | 50% | 23% | 14% | +41 |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business | 23% | 36% | 27% | 15% | +5 |
| Handling the economy overall | 22% | 35% | 28% | 14% | +14 |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class | 28% | 31% | 28% | 14% | -1 |
| Handling the economy in a way that helps you and people like you the most. | 32% | 28% | 26% | 14% | -8 |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you | 33% | 27% | 26% | 13% | -10 |
| Standing up for the middle class in Australia | 32% | 25% | 29% | 13% | -14 |
| Handling the economy in a way that tries to take the interests of working families into consideration as much as it takes the interests of the large corporate and financial groups | 31% | 24% | 29% | 16% | -10 |
| Representing the interests of Australian working families | 41% | 20% | 26% | 13% | -27 |
| Being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests | 41% | 19% | 26% | 13% | -29 |
Labor was more likely to be selected as the party best at all of the items, except for ‘Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests’ (50% Liberal, 13% Labor), ‘Handling the economy overall’ (35% Liberal, 22% Labor), ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business’ (36% Liberal, 23% Labor) and ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class’ (31% Liberal, 28% Labor).
Since this question was asked nearly 2 years ago, the main shifts have been for ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business’ (8% to the Liberals), ‘Standing up for the middle class in Australia’ (7% to the Liberals) and ‘Being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests’ (7% to the Liberals).
Party best at looking after the economy
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – do you think is best when it comes to:
|
Labor |
Liberal |
No Difference |
Don’t Know |
Difference (Labor v. Liberal) |
|
| Representing the interests of Australian working families |
47% |
20% |
26% |
7% |
27% |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you |
39% |
29% |
24% |
8% |
10% |
| Standing up for the middle class in Australia |
38% |
24% |
29% |
9% |
14% |
| Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests |
13% |
54% |
22% |
11% |
-41% |
| Being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests |
46% |
17% |
26% |
10% |
29% |
| Handling the economy overall |
26% |
40% |
23% |
10% |
-14% |
| Handling the economy in a way that tries to take the interests of working families into consideration as much as it takes the interests of the large corporate and financial groups |
37% |
27% |
23% |
13% |
10% |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business |
27% |
32% |
28% |
13% |
-5% |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class |
31% |
30% |
27% |
12% |
1% |
| Handling the economy in a way that helps you and people like you the most. |
37% |
29% |
23% |
11% |
8% |
Labor was more likely to be selected as the party best at all of the items, except for ‘Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests’ (54% Liberal, 13% Labor), ‘Handling the economy overall’ (40% Liberal, 26% Labor) and ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business’ (32% Liberal, 27% Labor).
Party Best At…
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – do you think is best when it comes to:
|
Labor |
Liberal |
No difference |
Don’t know |
Difference |
|
| Representing the interests of Australian working families |
37% |
25% |
29% |
9% |
+12 |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you |
29% |
35% |
26% |
10% |
-6 |
| Standing up for the middle class in Australia |
26% |
33% |
30% |
11% |
-7 |
| Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests |
10% |
54% |
25% |
11% |
-44 |
| Being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests |
37% |
22% |
30% |
11% |
+15 |
| Handling the economy overall |
22% |
41% |
26% |
10% |
-19 |
| Handling the economy in a way that tries to take the interests of working families into consideration as much as it takes the interests of the large corporate and financial groups |
29% |
34% |
25% |
12% |
-5 |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business |
22% |
40% |
25% |
13% |
-18 |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class |
23% |
38% |
27% |
12% |
-15 |
| Handling the economy in a way that helps you and people like you the most. |
26% |
36% |
27% |
11% |
-10 |
Labor was considered best at representing the interests of Australian working families (37%) and being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests (37%). The Liberals were considered best on all the other measures.
In particular, the Liberal Party was considered much better on representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests (54%), handling the economy overall (41%) and handling the economy in a way that best helps small business (40%).
Party Best at Handling Economy
Q. Which party do you think would be best at handling the Australian economy in the interests of you and people like you?
|
|
4 Jul 11 |
26 Mar 12 |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
| The Labor Party |
26% |
29% |
76% |
1% |
39% |
| The Liberal Party |
43% |
41% |
2% |
89% |
7% |
| No difference |
23% |
20% |
14% |
7% |
45% |
| Don’t know |
8% |
10% |
7% |
4% |
9% |
41% (down 2% since July last year) think the Liberal Party would be best at handling the Australian economy in their interests and 29% (up 3%) nominated the Labor Party. 20% think there is no difference.
There were significant differences by income – those earning under $600pw split 38% Labor/30% Liberal while those earning over $1,600pw favoured the Liberal Party 49% to 23% Labor.
Party Best at Handling Aboriginal Issues
Q. Which party do you think is best to handle issues concerning Australia’s Aboriginal people?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The Labor Party | 22% | 54% | 4% | 32% |
| The Liberal Party | 18% | 2% | 41% | 1% |
| No difference | 41% | 30% | 40% | 52% |
| Don’t know | 19% | 14% | 16% | 15% |
41% think there is no difference between the Liberal and Labor Parties in terms of handling issues concerning Australia’s Aboriginal people. 22% think the Labor Party is best and 18% favour the Liberal Party.
Liberal voters (41%) were less likely than Labor voters (54%) to think their own party would be best to handle Aboriginal issues. (more…)
Party best to handle Issues
Q. Which party do you think is best to handle each of the following issues?
| Labor | Liberal | Greens | Don’t know | |
| Making the big decisions for the nations future | 28% | 41% | 5% | 26% |
| Managing the economy in uncertain economic times | 30% | 44% | 2% | 24% |
| Delivering basic services like health and education | 34% | 36% | 5% | 25% |
| Investing in infrastructure including road rail and broadband | 34% | 36% | 2% | 28% |
| Supporting Australian industries to provide jobs | 33% | 39% | 3% | 25% |
| Reducing government spending so money can be returned back to taxpayers | 21% | 46% | 3% | 29% |
| Ensuring that all Australians benefit from Australia’s wealth | 31% | 34% | 6% | 29% |
| Providing support to the most disadvantaged | 34% | 27% | 9% | 29% |
The Liberal Party was considered substantially better than Labor at making the big decisions for the nations future (41% to 28%), managing the economy in uncertain economic times (44%/30% ) and reducing Government spending so money can be retuned back to taxpayers (46%/21%).
They were also considered a little better at supporting Australian industries to provide jobs (39%/33%). The Labor Party was considered a little better at providing support to the most disadvantaged (34%/27%) and the two parties scored similarly on delivering basic services like health and education, investing in infrastructure including road rail and broadband and ensuring that all Australians benefit from Australia’s wealth.
Party Best at Handling Economy
Q. Which party do you think would be best at handling the Australian economy in the interests of you and people like you?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The Labor Party | 26% | 75% | 2% | 35% |
| The Liberal Party | 43% | 1% | 86% | 11% |
| No difference | 23% | 19% | 9% | 43% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 4% | 3% | 10% |
43% think the Liberal Party would be best at handling the Australian economy in their interests and 26% nominated the Labor Party. 23% think there is no difference.
The Liberal Party is considered better by all income groups , although more by those on higher incomes. Those earning less than $600 per week favour the Liberal Party 37%/29%, while those earning $1,600+ per week favour the Liberal Party 51%/21%.
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