Essential Report
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Performance of Scott Morrison
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?
| May’21 | Apr’21 | End Mar’21 | Mid Mar’21 | Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | |
| TOTAL: Approve | 58% | 54% | 57% | 62% | 65% | 61% | 62% | 66% | 63% | 64% | 66% | 63% | 65% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 32% | 37% | 35% | 29% | 28% | 30% | 28% | 25% | 27% | 28% | 23% | 27% | 26% |
| Don’t know | 10% | 9% | 8% | 8% | 7% | 9% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 8% | 11% | 10% | 8% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 1,368 | 1,100 | 1,124 | 1,109 | 1,084 | 1,071 | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 |
| TOTAL: Approve | May’21 | 12 Apr’21 | 29 Mar’21 | 15 Mar’21 | Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 |
| Men | 62% | 61% | 65% | 65% | 65% | 62% | 68% | 65% |
| Women | 55% | 46% | 49% | 59% | 65% | 59% | 56% | 67% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | ||||||||
| Men | 31% | 32% | 30% | 28% | 28% | 32% | 25% | 28% |
| Women | 34% | 42% | 40% | 30% | 28% | 29% | 30% | 23% |
- The Prime Minister’s approval rating has risen to 58% (from 54% in April). This is similar to the level at the end of March.
- Approval of the PM among women has increased from 46% to 55%, while disapproval has fallen from 42% to 34%.
Performance of Anthony Albanese
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?
| May’21 | Apr’21 | Mar’21 | Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | |
| TOTAL: Approve | 39% | 39% | 41% | 40% | 42% | 43% | 40% | 44% | 44% | 44% | 44% | 43% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 35% | 34% | 32% | 33% | 33% | 29% | 33% | 29% | 29% | 30% | 28% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 25% | 27% | 27% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 27% | 27% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 26% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 1,368 | 1,124 | 1,109 | 1,084 | 1,071 | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Strongly approve | 9% | 13% | 8% | 5% | 11% |
| Approve | 30% | 45% | 21% | 42% | 27% |
| Disapprove | 24% | 17% | 32% | 21% | 22% |
| Strongly disapprove | 12% | 2% | 22% | 5% | 22% |
| Don’t know | 25% | 22% | 17% | 27% | 18% |
| TOTAL: Approve | 39% | 59% | 29% | 47% | 38% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 35% | 20% | 54% | 26% | 44% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 |
- The Opposition Leader’s approval rating is now at 39%, consistent with the level last month (39%).
- Approval of the Opposition Leader has risen to 59% among Labor voters (from 55% in April) and is at 29% among Coalition voters (33% in April).
Preferred Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?
| May’21 | Apr’21 | Mar’21 | Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | |
| Scott Morrison | 50% | 47% | 52% | 52% | 51% | 50% | 53% | 50% | 49% | 52% | 50% | 53% |
| Anthony Albanese | 24% | 28% | 26% | 24% | 25% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 22% | 27% | 23% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 25% | 22% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 24% | 25% | 25% | 26% | 23% | 24% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 1,368 | 1,124 | 1,109 | 1,084 | 1,071 | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 |
| Men | May’21 | Apr’21 | Mar’21 | Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 | Oct’20 |
| Scott Morrison | 54% | 53% | 52% | 54% | 53% | 54% | 54% | 52% |
| Anthony Albanese | 26% | 29% | 30% | 28% | 28% | 29% | 28% | 29% |
| Don’t know | 20% | 18% | 19% | 19% | 19% | 17% | 19% | 19% |
| Women | ||||||||
| Scott Morrison | 47% | 42% | 53% | 51% | 48% | 47% | 51% | 47% |
| Anthony Albanese | 22% | 26% | 23% | 21% | 22% | 19% | 20% | 22% |
| Don’t know | 31% | 32% | 24% | 29% | 31% | 34% | 28% | 31% |
| May’21 | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | |
| Scott Morrison | 50% | 32% | 83% | 29% | 34% |
| Anthony Albanese | 24% | 41% | 7% | 46% | 22% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 26% | 9% | 25% | 44% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 |
- Half (50%) of participants believe that Scott Morrison would make a better PM than Anthony Albanese (47% last month).
- Just under a quarter (24%) would prefer the Opposition Leader (28% in April). Just over a quarter (26%) of participants don’t know who would make the better PM.
- Preference for Morrison has increased among women to 47% (from 42% last month). Preference is unchanged among men (54% and 53%).
- 41% of Labor voters believe Albanese would make the better PM, a notable drop from levels last month (50%). Just over a third (32%) now think Morrison would make the better leader (27% last month) and about a quarter (26%) don’t know.
Federal Budget expectations
Q. The Federal Budget will be announced on Tuesday 11th In general, do you expect the Federal Budget will be good or bad for the following?
| May’21 | Oct’20 | |||||||
| TOTAL: Very Good / Good | Neither good, nor bad | TOTAL: Very bad / Bad | Don’t know | TOTAL: Very Good / Good | Neither good, nor bad | TOTAL: Very bad / Bad | Don’t know | |
| People who are well off | 53% | 28% | 8% | 12% | 51% | 30% | 10% | 8% |
| Big business | 51% | 30% | 9% | 11% | 53% | 26% | 12% | 9% |
| Small business | 44% | 28% | 17% | 11% | 44% | 26% | 23% | 7% |
| The economy overall | 41% | 33% | 16% | 10% | 34% | 27% | 32% | 7% |
| Australian families | 38% | 33% | 19% | 10% | 33% | 31% | 29% | 7% |
| Women | 34% | 36% | 18% | 12% | – | – | – | – |
| Average working people | 32% | 32% | 25% | 10% | 30% | 29% | 34% | 6% |
| Younger Australians | 31% | 35% | 23% | 12% | 29% | 31% | 33% | 8% |
| People on lower incomes | 30% | 27% | 33% | 11% | 30% | 23% | 40% | 6% |
| Older Australians | 29% | 28% | 32% | 11% | 31% | 28% | 34% | 7% |
| You personally | 23% | 40% | 27% | 10% | 25% | 36% | 31% | 8% |
- Over half of people think the upcoming budget will be good / very good for those who are well off (53%) and about half (51%) think it will benefit big business. This is consistent with levels for these measures last budget (51% and 53% respectively).
- Notably, more people now think the upcoming budget will be good / very good for the economy overall (41% from 34% in October) and Australian families (38% from 33%) than the last announcement in October.
- People on lower incomes (33%) and older Australians (32%) are most expected to be worse off following the announcement.
| TOTAL:
Very good / Good |
Total | Federal Voting Intention | |||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| People who are well off | 53% | 60% | 47% | 70% | 62% |
| Big business | 51% | 57% | 49% | 62% | 57% |
| Small business | 44% | 40% | 60% | 32% | 40% |
| The economy overall | 41% | 33% | 61% | 26% | 34% |
| Australian families | 38% | 32% | 54% | 29% | 38% |
| Women | 34% | 31% | 46% | 30% | 33% |
| Average working people | 32% | 25% | 47% | 26% | 34% |
| Younger Australians | 31% | 25% | 44% | 23% | 27% |
| People on lower incomes | 30% | 20% | 45% | 23% | 34% |
| Older Australians | 29% | 25% | 38% | 35% | 26% |
| You personally | 23% | 16% | 32% | 22% | 26% |
- 23% expect to be better off following the budget announcement.
- 32% of Coalition voters think they personally will have a good budget. This is higher than Labor (16%), Greens (22%) and those voting for a minor/independent party (26%).
Most important areas for increased funding
Q. How important to you is it that each of the following areas receives increased funding in the upcoming Federal Budget?
| TOTAL: Very important / Important | Quite important | TOTAL: Not very important / Not at all important | |
| Improving the quality of aged care | 74% | 20% | 6% |
| Services and facilities to improve women’s safety | 60% | 30% | 10% |
| Promoting the local manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines | 59% | 27% | 14% |
| Incentives and support for small businesses | 57% | 34% | 9% |
| Early childhood education and care | 55% | 28% | 18% |
| Energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables | 51% | 31% | 19% |
| Reducing the national deficit | 48% | 34% | 18% |
- Improving the quality of aged care is seen by the majority of Australians to be an important / very important area to receive increased funding in the upcoming Federal Budget (74%). Services and facilities to improve women’s safety (60%) comes next, closely followed by promoting the local manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines (59%).
- Reducing the national deficit (48%) and funding for the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables (51%) are seen as the least important areas for funding.
| TOTAL: Very important / Important | Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | TOTAL:
Labor, Greens, Other |
||||||
| Improving the quality of aged care | 74% | 77% | 74% | 78% | 76% | 77% | ||||
| Services and facilities to improve women’s safety | 60% | 63% | 58% | 72% | 62% | 64% | ||||
| Promoting the local manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines | 59% | 61% | 65% | 56% | 54% | 59% | ||||
| Incentives and support for small businesses | 57% | 52% | 64% | 58% | 53% | 53% | ||||
| Early childhood education and care | 55% | 60% | 51% | 58% | 54% | 59% | ||||
| Energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables | 51% | 53% | 46% | 74% | 49% | 56% | ||||
| Reducing the national deficit | 48% | 43% | 58% | 35% | 48% | 43% | ||||
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 | 591 | ||||
- Compared to all other voters, Coalition voters are more likely to think incentives and support for small businesses is an important / very important area for increased funding (53% to 64% respectively), however they are less likely to think the same for early childhood education and care (59% to 51% respectively).
- Coalition voters are more likely to see reducing the national deficit as an important area for increased funding compared to all other voters (58% to 43% respectively).
Economy: Direct investment vs trickle-down approach
Q. And which of the following is closest to your view on the best way to create jobs and grow the economy?
| May’21 | Oct’20 | |
| The government should directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers | 66% | 69% |
| The government should relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs | 17% | 19% |
| Unsure | 17% | 13% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 1,066 |
- Most Australians’ want the government to directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers (66%), rather than relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs (17%) to create jobs and grow the economy. This is consistent with levels last October (69% and 19% respectively).
- Slightly more people are now unsure which the best approach is (17% from 13% in October).
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | TOTAL:
Labor, Greens, Other |
||||||
| The government should directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers | 66% | 74% | 64% | 75% | 69% | 73% | ||||
| The government should relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs | 17% | 13% | 23% | 15% | 17% | 14% | ||||
| Unsure | 17% | 13% | 13% | 10% | 14% | 12% | ||||
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 | 591 | ||||
- The majority of voters of all major parties want the government to directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers.
Priority for the upcoming budget
Q. Which one of the following options is closest to your thinking about what the priority should be of the upcoming budget?
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
| The government should prioritise the reduction of national debt by cutting public funding for services | 20% | 24% | 16% | 27% | 21% | 13% | 15% | 22% | 25% | 33% | ||
| The government should prioritise providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic | 80% | 76% | 84% | 73% | 79% | 87% | 85% | 78% | 75% | 67% | ||
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 536 | 556 | 340 | 372 | 380 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 | ||
- The majority of Australians think the government should prioritise providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic in the upcoming budget (80%), over the reduction of national debt by cutting public funding for services (20%).
- Preference for providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic is highest among women (84%), those over 55 (87%) and Labor voters (85%).
Indicators of whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state
Q. Which of the following indicators do you think is the most important when thinking about whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state?
| May’21 | Sep’20 | Sep’19 | |
| The unemployment rate | 25% | 39% | 25% |
| The cost of household bills | 20% | 13% | 22% |
| The size of the national deficit | 13% | – | – |
| The amount of homeless people on the streets | 11% | 8% | 10% |
| The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies | 8% | 12% | 13% |
| The gross domestic product per person | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia | 7% | 6% | 9% |
| The consumer price index | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening | 5% | 3% | 2% |
| The size of the national surplus | – | 6% | 6% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 1,081 | 1,097 |
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| The unemployment rate | 25% | 24% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 21% | 26% | 21% | 34% | 25% |
| The cost of household bills | 20% | 19% | 21% | 18% | 20% | 21% | 21% | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| The size of the national deficit | 13% | 10% | 15% | 8% | 13% | 17% | 10% | 15% | 7% | 17% |
| The amount of homeless people on the streets | 11% | 8% | 13% | 11% | 11% | 11% | 12% | 8% | 15% | 7% |
| The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies | 8% | 9% | 7% | 12% | 7% | 6% | 9% | 8% | 4% | 7% |
| The gross domestic product per person | 7% | 9% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 10% | 7% | 6% |
| The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia | 7% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 3% | 8% |
| The consumer price index | 5% | 7% | 3% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 8% | 3% |
| The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening | 5% | 6% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 9% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 536 | 556 | 340 | 372 | 380 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 |
- The unemployment rate is still thought to be the top indicator of the state of the Australian economy, with a quarter of Australians (25%) ranking it as most important.
- Cost of household bills (20%), the size of the national deficit (13%) and levels of homelessness (11%) are also seen to be key indicators of the state of the economy.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
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Two Party Preferred:
Labor
47%
Coalition
44%
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Federal Budget expectations
- Most important areas for increased funding
- Economy: Direct investment vs trickle-down approach
- Priority for the upcoming budget
- Indicators of whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state
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