Approval of the Opposition Leader
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
Malcolm Turnbull | Tony Abbott | |||||||||
12 Jan 09 | 9 Feb 09 | 30 Mar 09 | 18 May 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 10 Aug 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 9 Nov 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | |
Strongly approve | 4% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 7% |
Approve | 37% | 29% | 25% | 28% | 20% | 20% | 24% | 26% | 23% | 27% |
Disapprove | 21% | 26% | 31% | 28% | 31% | 30% | 35% | 30% | 33% | 18% |
Strongly disapprove | 9% | 17% | 17% | 21% | 26% | 28% | 18% | 20% | 22% | 18% |
Don’t know | 29% | 24% | 24% | 21% | 19% | 20% | 21% | 20% | 19% | 31% |
Total approve | 41% | 32% | 28% | 30% | 24% | 22% | 27% | 29% | 25% | 34% |
Total disapprove | 30% | 43% | 48% | 49% | 57% | 58% | 53% | 50% | 55% | 36% |
34% of respondents approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader, 36% disapprove and 31% don’t know.
Perception followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to approve of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader (65%) while Labor voters were more likely to disapprove (55%). 15% of Coalition voters disapprove of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader.
Abbott’s approval rating is nine percentage points higher than the score Turnbull received right before he was replaced as Opposition Leader. However, Turnbull’s approval rating when he took on the leadership role in September 2009 was 36% and his disapproval rating was 30%. This is a slightly better result than that scored by Abbott after his succession to the leadership position.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
Sign up for updates
Receive the Essential Report in your inbox.Essential Tags
Recent Comments
