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Agreement towards independent inquiry undermining the rule of law

16 Mar 2021

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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