Attitude towards Australia first hiring

Q. Last weekend Kristina Kenneally, a NSW senator, called for the federal government to reduce the number of temporary migrant worker visas permitted after the Covid-19 outbreak. She argues that Australian businesses should prioritise training and hiring Australians for roles, rather than seeking temporary workers to fill skill-shortages.

To what extent, do you support or oppose this idea of “Australia first” hiring?

		Gender			Age Group
	Total	Male	Female	18-34		35-54	55+
Strongly support	41%	36%	46%	27%		42%	53%
Somewhat support	26%	28%	23%	25%		26%	25%
Neither support, nor oppose	21%	21%	21%	30%		24%	10%
Somewhat oppose	6%	7%	4%	10%		3%	5%
Strongly oppose	6%	8%	5%	9%		5%	6%
TOTAL: Support	67%	64%	70%	52%		68%	78%
TOTAL: Oppose	12%	15%	9%	18%		8%	12%
Base (n)	1,067	532	535	341		341	385

 

	Federal Voting Intention
	Labor	Coalition	Greens	TOTAL: Other
Strongly support	41%	44%	23%	61%
Somewhat support	22%	31%	26%	21%
Neither support, nor oppose	24%	15%	34%	12%
Somewhat oppose	7%	4%	7%	4%
Strongly oppose	6%	5%	10%	2%
TOTAL: Support	63%	75%	50%	82%
TOTAL: Oppose	13%	10%	17%	7%
Base (n)	306	418	86	143

• Kristina Kenneally’s “Australia first” hiring approach is supported by 67% of participants; women (70%), those over 55 (78%), Coalition (75%) and other party voters (82%) are more likely to support this approach than men (64%), 18-34 year olds (52%) and Greens voters (50%).