Performance of Scott Morrison

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?

• The Prime Minister’s approval rating is at 39%. It has not recovered following the fall from 45% at the end of last year to 40% in January.
• Still 52% disapprove of his performance, which shows no change from January (52%).
• However, the PM’s approval rating among Coalition voters remains high, 78% approval (79% in Jan’20).

Performance of Anthony Albanese

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?

• Approval for Albanese has remained steady at 41% (43% last month). Those who don’t know about Albanese’s performance remains relatively high, at 28%.
• His approval within his voter base (62% among Labor voters) is still not as strong as Scott Morrison (78% among Coalition voters).

Preferred Prime Minister

Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?

• Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are considered equally capable of being Prime Minister (both 36%).
• 28% are unsure who would make the better PM.

Returning to budget surplus

Q. Before the 2019 Federal election, the Government promised the 2019-2020 budget would return to surplus. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about achieving a budget surplus?

• Four in five (79%) agree that it’s more important to spend money on bushfire recovery than fund the surplus; 65% agree that it’s understandable with the coronavirus impacting trade on China that the surplus won’t be achieved; and over half (57%) agree that the government was wrong to announce the budget ‘was back in the black’ before the last election.
• Coalition voters are least likely to agree that the government was wrong to announce the budget ‘was back in the black’ before the last election (44%); while Labor (70%) and Greens (68%) voters are most likely to agree.

Attitude to Bridget McKenzie’s resignation and grant allocation

Q. The Deputy Leader of the Nationals has resigned for having a conflict of interest in awarding a grant to a shooting club of which she was a member. Which of the following statements do you agree with?

• 70% of participants agree that the investigation into the Deputy Nationals Leader needs to continue to investigate any MP involved in the allocation of sports grants. Half (49%) of participants agree that the minister’s resignation should be the end of the matter.
• Coalition voters are more likely to agree that the minister’s resignation should be the end of the matter (61%) than all other voters (44%).
• Additionally, Coalition voters are least likely to agree that the investigation needs to continue (65%) and giving grants to sports organisations in marginal seats was only done to influence the election result in the Governments favour (56%), than all other voters (76% and 74%).

Coronavirus concerns and government actions

Q. To what extent are you concerned about the threat of the Coronavirus in Australia?

Q. Do you think the Government is doing enough to protect Australians from the threat of Coronavirus?

• 25% are very concerned about the threat of the Coronavirus to Australia and 43% are quite concerned. 26% are not at all concerned and 6% say they are not at all concerned.
• 49% of participants believe the government is doing enough to protect Australians from Coronavirus; those over 55 years old (57%) and Coalition voters (68%) are most likely to say that the Government is doing enough.
• Those aged 18-54 year old (37%), with dependent children (35%), Greens voters (38%) and other/independent party voters (40%) are more likely to believe that the government isn’t doing enough.

Attitudes towards Coronavirus management

Q. To what extent do you support or oppose the following measures to limit the spread of the Coronavirus to Australia?

• More than four-fifths of participants agree with each of the three measures to limit to the spread of the Coronavirus; stopping all flights to and from China has 85% agreement, stopping anyone entering the country who has been to China in the last 14 days has 84% agreement, and 82% agree that people entering Australia from affected areas in China should be quarantined.
• Participants over 55 years old and Coalition voters are more likely to agree with these measures, than participants 18-34 and Greens voters.

Dietary preferences

Q. Which, if any, of the following best describes your diet?

• 44% of participants are reducing their meat consumption in some way, most commonly by trying to limit their meat consumption (24%).
• 18-34 year olds are more likely to be vegan (7%) or vegetarian (8%) than those aged over 55 (both 1%).
• 12% of Greens voters are vegetarian, compared to 4% of all other voters.

Reasons for dietary preferences

Q. And which, if any, of the following are reasons why you choose to follow this diet?

• The most commonly selected reason for choosing to follow a meat restrictive diet is to improve or maintain personal health (51%), followed by limiting processed food, additives or chemicals in diet (32%), assist with weight loss and environmental reasons (both 29%).
• 25% of participants are chose to follow a meat restrictive diet in order to reduce the cost of food bills while 11% dislike the taste of meat.
• Participants over 55 are more likely to say ‘improve or maintain personal health’ (65%), ‘limit processed food, additives or chemicals in diet’ (40%) or ‘reduce the cost of food bills’ (35%), than those 18-34 years old (40%, 21% and 18% respectively).
• Women are more likely than men to say they dislike the taste of meat (15% women, 7% men).
• Greens voters are more likely to say environmental (54%) or ethical (45%) reasons than any other political group (both 24%).

Climate Change Policy Proposals

Q. To what extent would you support or oppose the following policy proposals if they were adopted by the Federal Government?

• 81% of participants support the accelerated development of new industries and jobs that are powered by renewable energy and 71% support a zero-carbon pollution target to be set for 2050.
• Support for all policies was higher among Labor and greens voters, and lower among Coalition.