Awareness of dispute between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau

Q. How closely have you been following the dispute between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau, following comments the player made on social media?

•  28% of men stated that they have been following the dispute closely, compared to 16% of women.
• 18% of 18 to 34 year olds stated that they have been the dispute closely, compared to 27% of over 55 year olds.
• High-income earners were more likely than low- or mid-income earners to have been following the dispute closely (32% compared to 20% for both low- and mid-income earners).
• University-educated respondents were also more likely to be following the dispute closely (28%) than those with a secondary school education (18%) or a professional qualification (20%).

General opinions on the dispute between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau

Q. Do you see the Israel Folau situation as being:

• Among those who have been following the dispute (either following it closely, or read or seen some news about it), the public is split, with similar proportions thinking the dispute between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau is mainly about Folau’s freedom of speech and right to express his religious views (43%) and those thinking it’s mainly about whether Rugby Australia should be able to dismiss an employee who is in breach of contract (49%).
• Slightly more Australians stated that the Israel Folau dispute is mainly about a breach of his contract (49%) than freedom of speech (43%).
• Coalition voters were more likely to select that the dispute is about Folau’s freedom of speech (49%) than Labor (35%) or Greens voters (28%).

Attitudes towards the dispute between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding the ongoing dispute between Israel Folau and Rugby Australia?

• A majority of Australians agreed that ‘Israel Folau chose to share his religious views on social media and should take responsibility for them’ and that ‘Israel Folau has used his public profile to attack a minority group in the community’.

• 81% of over 55s agreed that ‘Israel Folau chose to share his religious views on social media, and should take responsibility for them’, compared to 66% of 35 to 54 year olds and 55% of 18 to 34 year olds. These groups were more likely to select ‘Don’t know’.
• Similarly, 59% of over 55s agreed that ‘Israel Folau has used his public profile to attack a minority group in the community’ compared to 42% of 18 to 34 year olds. Younger Australians were more likely to select ‘Don’t know (19% to 7% of over 55s).
• 38% of men agreed that ‘Israel Folau has the right to voice his religious views, regardless of the hurt it could cause others’, while only 30% of women agreed.
• Coalition voters were more likely than Labor or Greens voters to agree that ‘Israel Folau has the right to voice his religious views, regardless of the hurt it could cause others’. 41% of Coalition voters agreed, while 30% of Labor voters and 20% of Greens voters did so.

Greatest scientific achievement of 20th century

Q. Which of the following do you think was the greatest scientific achievement of the 20^th century?

• The discovery of penicillin was the most selected event, with 40% selecting it as the greatest scientific achievement of the 20^th
• As we approach the 50^th anniversary of humans setting foot on the moon, 10% regard this as the greatest scientific achievement, behind the launch of the internet, selected by 18% of people.
• Over 55s were more likely to select the discovery of penicillin (56%) than younger respondents (36% of 35 to 54 year olds and 24% of 18 to 34 year olds).
• Those with a university education were more likely to select the launch of the World Wide Web (25%) than those with a secondary education (14%) or a professional qualification (16%).
• Just 5% regarded the invention of the television as the greatest scientific achievement of the previous century.

Preferred Prime Minister

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

• Support for Scott Morrison as PM has risen since before the Federal Election, from 39% to 43% while Albanese has slightly lower support than Bill Shorten did before the Federal Election (25% to 32%).
• However, it may be too soon to judge Albanese’s performance, as the number who replied ‘Don’t know’ has also crept up (from 28% to 32%).
• Morrison received strong support (80%) from Coalition voters, while Labor voters were less sure of Albanese as PM (with 34% selecting ‘Don’t know’, double the number compared to Coalition voters – 17%). 40% of Other voters did not know who they would prefer.

Performance of Scott Morrison

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

• The proportion who strongly approve Scott Morrison’s performance has increased since before the election from 43% to 48%, while the proportion who disapprove has decreased from 39% to 36%.
• Very few Greens voters and Labor voters strongly approve of his performance (0% and 4%). Overall approval for Morrison is over three times as strong among Coalition voters as it is for Greens or Labor voters (86% to 24% and 23% respectively).

Performance of Anthony Albanese

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

• Albanese faces a similar approval rate (35% to 38%) but lower disapproval (25% to 44%) than Bill Shorten received in May 2019.
• However, the difference has mostly gone towards an increase in those selecting ‘Don’t know’ (39% to 18%), suggesting he hasn’t been Opposition Leader long enough for voters to decide.
• More than a third of Labor, Coalition and Other voters were not sure if they approved or disapproved of his performance (the number reached 44% for Greens voters).

Attitudes to Proposed Stage 3 Tax Cuts

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

• Over three-quarters of voters favour funding for education and health over tax cuts for high earners.
• Those most likely to say they supported reducing taxes for high income earners were also younger (40% of 18-34 year olds strongly agreeing) and wealthier (41% of high income earners strongly agreeing). Retirees were less likely to support the policy (66% net disagreeing).

• Labor and Greens voters were more likely to agree with statement ‘Maintaining funding for education and health is more important than cutting taxes for those earning more than $200,000’.
• They were also more likely to agree that ‘People earning over $150,000 should pay a higher rate of tax than those earning $40,000’, and that ‘A $05 billion tax cut for high income earners will make it impossible for government to deliver essential services’.
• Coalition voters were more likely to agree with ‘I support reducing taxes by $11,000 per year for people earning over $200,000’, with 43% strongly agreeing compared to 27% of Labor voters, 23% of Greens voters and 25% of Other voters.