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Performance of Scott Morrison
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?
| Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | |
| TOTAL: Approve | 65% | 61% | 62% | 66% | 63% | 64% | 66% | 63% | 65% | 64% | 59% | 41% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 28% | 30% | 28% | 25% | 27% | 28% | 23% | 27% | 26% | 27% | 31% | 49% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 9% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 8% | 11% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 10% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 1,084 | 1,071 | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Strongly approve | 23% | 8% | 44% | 6% | 17% |
| Approve | 42% | 40% | 49% | 29% | 40% |
| Disapprove | 16% | 24% | 4% | 30% | 27% |
| Strongly disapprove | 11% | 20% | 1% | 29% | 11% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 7% | 2% | 6% | 5% |
| TOTAL: Approve | 65% | 49% | 93% | 35% | 57% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 28% | 44% | 5% | 59% | 37% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 359 | 428 | 101 | 131 |
- The Prime Minister’s approval rating has increased to 65%, the highest rating since November last year.
- Approval of the Prime Minister is now at 93% among Coalition supporters (90% last month) and 49% among Labor voters (47% last month).
Performance of Anthony Albanese
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | |
| TOTAL: Approve | 40% | 42% | 43% | 40% | 44% | 44% | 44% | 44% | 43% | 42% | 44% | 41% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 33% | 33% | 29% | 33% | 29% | 29% | 30% | 28% | 30% | 27% | 29% | 33% |
| Don’t know | 27% | 25% | 28% | 27% | 27% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 31% | 27% | 26% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 1,084 | 1,071 | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Strongly approve | 10% | 13% | 10% | 6% | 10% |
| Approve | 30% | 45% | 21% | 28% | 27% |
| Disapprove | 22% | 13% | 30% | 28% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 11% | 4% | 18% | 4% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 27% | 25% | 21% | 33% | 22% |
| TOTAL: Approve | 40% | 58% | 31% | 35% | 37% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 33% | 17% | 48% | 32% | 42% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 359 | 428 | 101 | 131 |
- The Opposition Leader’s approval rating is now at 40%, down from 42% last month and the lowest rating since last November.
- Approval of the Opposition Leader has fallen to 58% among Labor voters (from 63% in January) and 31% among Coalition voters (down from 35% in January).
Preferred Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?
| Feb’21 | Jan’21 | Dec’20 | Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | |
| Scott Morrison | 52% | 51% | 50% | 53% | 50% | 49% | 52% | 50% | 53% | 50% | 46% | 40% |
| Anthony Albanese | 24% | 25% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 22% | 27% | 23% | 25% | 27% | 35% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 25% | 26% | 24% | 25% | 25% | 26% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 27% | 25% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 1,084 | 1,071 | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 |
| Federal Voting Intention | |||||
| Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | |
| Scott Morrison | 52% | 33% | 83% | 33% | 40% |
| Anthony Albanese | 24% | 42% | 7% | 39% | 28% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 25% | 11% | 28% | 31% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 359 | 428 | 101 | 131 |
- Just over half of participants believe that Scott Morrison would make a better PM than Anthony Albanese (52%), while around a quarter would prefer the Opposition Leader (24%). About a further quarter (24%) of participants don’t know who would make the better PM.
- Morrison is strongly favoured by Coalition voters, with 83% believing Morrison makes the better PM, compared to Albanese (7%).
- 42% of Labor voters believe Albanese would make the better PM, a decrease since last month (47%). A quarter (25%) of Labor voters said they don’t know who would make the better leader.
Federal government response to Covid-19
Q. Overall, how would you rate the federal government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| 15/02 | 01/02 | 30/11 | 16/11 | 02/11 | 05/10 | 21/09 | 07/09 | 24/08 | 10/08 | 27/07 | 13/07 | |
| Very poor | 5% | 4% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Quite poor | 7% | 11% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 12% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 8% | 11% | 10% |
| Neither good nor poor | 19% | 19% | 19% | 18% | 24% | 22% | 21% | 22% | 22% | 21% | 20% | 20% |
| Quite good | 42% | 42% | 41% | 41% | 39% | 39% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 40% |
| Very good | 27% | 25% | 26% | 26% | 22% | 21% | 21% | 18% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 24% |
| TOTAL: Poor | 12% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 15% | 18% | 18% | 19% | 17% | 16% | 16% | 16% |
| TOTAL: Good | 69% | 67% | 67% | 67% | 61% | 60% | 61% | 59% | 61% | 63% | 64% | 64% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 1,092 | 1,034 | 1,010 | 1,063 | 1,066 | 1,081 | 1,076 | 1,068 | 1,010 | 1,058 | 1,054 |
- Rating of the federal government’s handling of Covid-19 has increased to 69% since last month, the highest rating in the last six months.
State government response to Covid-19
Q. How would you rate your state government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| TOTAL: Good | 15/02 | 01/02 | 30/11 | 16/11 | 02/11 | 05/10 | 21/09 | 07/09 | 24/08 | 10/08 | 27/07 | 13/07 |
| NSW | 72% | 71% | 76% | 75% | 68% | 65% | 67% | 57% | 59% | 61% | 62% | 63% |
| VIC | 59% | 61% | 60% | 59% | 55% | 45% | 47% | 50% | 47% | 49% | 53% | 49% |
| QLD | 76% | 78% | 72% | 71% | 69% | 69% | 68% | 66% | 73% | 68% | 67% | 69% |
| SA | 79% | 80% | 70% | 76% | 77% | 81% | 81% | 74% | 65% | 72% | 76% | 79% |
| WA | 88% | 80% | 83% | 82% | 81% | 83% | 84% | 87% | 84% | 86% | 82% | 77% |
- As Victoria entered a snap 5-day lockdown, the rating of the VIC government dropped to 59% (from 61% earlier this month).
- Positive rating of the WA government has increased to 88% (from 80% earlier this month). This is the highest rating in the last six months.
- Positive rating of the QLD government has fallen slightly to 76% (from 78% earlier this month). Ratings of the NSW and SA government remain virtually unchanged at 72% and 79% respectively.
Better leadership during Covid-19 – PM vs state leader
Q. Who do you think has demonstrated better leadership qualities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia?
| TOTAL: All states | |
| Prime Minister Scott Morrison | 30% |
| TOTAL: State Premier / Chief Minister | 52% |
| Don’t know | 19% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 |
- The majority of people (52%) think their state leaders have demonstrated better leadership qualities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia than the Prime Minister.
- About a third (30%) think the opposite is true – that the PM has performed better than state leaders and 19% don’t know.
- The pattern of people thinking their state leader has demonstrated better leadership qualities throughout the pandemic than the Prime Minister is consistent across each state. This is most apparent in WA where 76% think their premier, Mark McGowan, has demonstrated better leadership than Scott Morrison.
- Note: Due to small base sizes results for ACT, TAS and NT are not shown.
| TOTAL: NSW | TOTAL: VIC | TOTAL: QLD | TOTAL: SA | TOTAL: WA | |
| Prime Minister Scott Morrison | 29% | 34% | 32% | 29% | 19% |
| State Premier / Chief Minister | 44% | 49% | 55% | 50% | 76% |
| Don’t know | 27% | 17% | 13% | 21% | 5% |
| Base (n) | 338 | 297 | 225 | 91 | 107 |
Attitudes towards Craig Kelly controversy and Scott Morrison’s leadership
Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about Liberal MP Craig Kelly sharing Covid-19 misinformation (e.g. advocating unproven treatments, claiming vaccines cannot be trusted, comparing masks to child abuse)?
| TOTAL: Agree | Total | Federal Voting Intention | |||
| Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Scott Morrison has shown poor leadership in how he has responded to Craig Kelly’s behaviour | 41% | 52% | 32% | 52% | 47% |
| Craig Kelly is more interested in sharing Covid-19 misinformation and building his media profile than representing his constituency | 56% | 60% | 58% | 70% | 56% |
| Craig Kelly’s behaviour is undermining Scott Morrison’s leadership by contradicting the Prime Minister on Covid-19 facts | 57% | 61% | 60% | 63% | 55% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 359 | 428 | 101 | 131 |
- Over half (57%) agree that Craig Kelly’s behaviour is undermining Scott Morrison’s leadership by contradicting the Prime Minister on Covid-19 facts and over half (56%) also agree that Craig Kelly is more interested in sharing Covid-19 misinformation and building his media profile than representing his constituency.
- Greens voters are more likely to agree with these two statements than other voters. Minor and independent party voters are the least likely to agree.
- 41% agree Scott Morrison has shown poor leadership in how he has responded to Craig Kelly’s behaviour. Labor and Greens voters are more likely to agree with this statement than Coalition and minor and independent party voters (52% and 52% to 32% and 47% respectively).
Views towards federal vs state government responsibility to manage Covid-19 hotel quarantine system
Q. Which of the following statements about Australia’s international borders and the Covid-19 hotel quarantine system for returning travellers is closest to your view?
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| It should be the federal government’s responsibility to protect Australia’s international borders and manage the hotel quarantine system | 62% | 63% | 59% | 57% | 67% |
| It should be each state governments’ responsibility to quarantine travellers returning within their borders and the federal government should be left out of this | 38% | 37% | 41% | 43% | 33% |
| Base (n) | 1,109 | 359 | 428 | 101 | 131 |
- More people think it should be the federal government’s responsibility to protect Australia’s international borders and manage the hotel quarantine system, than those who think it should be each state governments’ responsibility to quarantine travellers returning within their borders (62% to 38%).
- The view that this should be a federal rather than state government responsibility is consistent across all voting intentions.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
Labor
47%
Coalition
44%
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Better leadership during Covid-19 – PM vs state leader
- Attitudes towards Craig Kelly controversy and Scott Morrison’s leadership
- Views towards federal vs state government responsibility to manage Covid-19 hotel quarantine system
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