Essential Report
Agreement towards independent inquiry undermining the rule of law
Q. Following the allegations of rape and sexual assault against Attorney General Christian Porter last week, Scott Morrison has rejected calls for an independent inquiry, saying that “I don’t agree with that because I don’t agree with the precedent or the prima facie case for there being such a process… because that would say the rule of law and our police are not competent to deal with these issues.”.
To what extent do you agree with his suggestion that holding an independent inquiry would undermine the rule of law?
Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
Strongly agree | 15% | 20% | 10% | 4% | 18% | 21% | 7% | 25% | 5% | 18% | ||
Somewhat agree | 22% | 24% | 20% | 20% | 23% | 23% | 16% | 31% | 12% | 23% | ||
Neither agree nor disagree | 31% | 27% | 34% | 45% | 29% | 21% | 31% | 24% | 36% | 31% | ||
Somewhat disagree | 15% | 13% | 17% | 19% | 13% | 13% | 21% | 11% | 22% | 7% | ||
Strongly disagree | 18% | 17% | 19% | 12% | 18% | 22% | 25% | 9% | 25% | 21% | ||
TOTAL: Agree | 37% | 44% | 30% | 24% | 41% | 43% | 23% | 57% | 17% | 41% | ||
TOTAL: Disagree | 33% | 29% | 36% | 31% | 31% | 36% | 46% | 20% | 47% | 28% | ||
Base (n) | 1,124 | 553 | 571 | 337 | 383 | 404 | 375 | 410 | 98 | 142 | ||
- People are split on Scott Morrison’s suggestion that holding an independent inquiry would undermine the rule of law. While 33% disagree with the Prime Minister’s suggestion, 37% agree and 31% are undecided.
- Men are more likely than women to agree with this suggestion (44% to 30% respectively). Those over 55 and those aged 35-54 are also more likely to agree with it than the younger 18-34 cohort (43% and 41% to 24% respectively).

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