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

• The Opposition Leader’s approval rating remains consistent for the fourth consecutive month at 44%.
• Albanese’s approval among Labor voters is steady at 65% following the decline from 70% to 62% between July and August. The proportion of Labor voters who strongly approve of his performance remains at 15%.

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

• Half of participants believe that Scott Morrison would make a better PM than Anthony Albanese (50%), while a quarter would prefer the opposition leader. A further quarter (25%) of participants don’t know who would make the better PM.
• Morrison is strongly favoured by Coalition voters, with 82% believing Morrison makes the better PM, compared to Albanese (8%).
• Half of Labor voters believe Albanese would make the better PM (50%, up from 46% in September). 24% of Labor voters said they didn’t know who would make the better leader.

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job <NAME> is doing as State Premier?

[Only asked in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA and WA]

• Mark McGowan in WA has the highest approval of State premiers, with 84% approving of his leadership, and just 7% disapproval.
• Victorian Dan Andrews has the lowest approval rating (54% approval, with 40% disapproval). He maintains approval among Labor voters (78% approval), but majority of Coalition voters in Victoria disapprove of his leadership (54%).
• Gladys Berejiklian has a high approval rating compared to other state premiers (67%). She has a majority approval among Coalition voters (83%), Labor voters (57%) and other parties (60%).
• 62% of Queenslanders approval of the job Annastacia Palaszczuk is doing ahead of the election later this month. 28% disapprove of the Queensland premier, driven by high disapproval ratings among Coalition voters (37%).

Q. Do you think a Federal Government led by Labor or the Coalition would be better at…?

• A Coalition government is thought to be better than Labor at governance issues such as reducing national debt (42% to 28%) and managing the economy (44% to 31%).
• Elements where Labor is seen to do a better job than the Coalition is in supporting those in financial need (42% to 35%) and improving the financial situation for women (38% to 31%).
• Both parties are seen to be equally competent to create jobs (39% Coalition, 38% Labor) and helping those who have lost work due to Covid-19 (38% Coalition, 40% Labor).

Q. The Federal Budget was announced on Tuesday 6th October.

In general, do you think the Federal Budget will be good or bad for the following?

• Following the budget, more people than before thought the announcements would be good for the economy overall (41%, up from 34% before the budget), average working Australians (40% from 30% expectation), and young people (42% from 29%).

Q. To the best of your knowledge, did the Federal Budget put the interests of each of the groups ahead of the other, or was there a balance?

• While the majority thought the budget was balanced between the interests of men and women (54%), over twice as many people thought the interests of men were put ahead of women, than women above men (31% to 14%).
• Most felt the interests of younger Australians were put ahead of older Australians (45%). 34% thought it was balanced and 21% thought the interests of older Australians were prioritised.
• Most felt the budget was balanced between the interests of businesses and employees (45%), with 42% thinking that business interests were prioritised, and 14% thinking employee interests were prioritised.

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the recent Federal Budget and the direction for the country to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic?

• There is strong agreement that the Government is responsible for the future of the economy. 75% agree that ‘The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy’ and 70% of people agree that ‘The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not’
• However, half of people (49%) agree with the statement that ‘The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control’. Coalition voters are more likely to agree with this statement than Labor voters (58% to 48%).
• Half of people agree that ‘There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services’ (51%). Those more likely to agree with this statement include Labor voters (60%), those in paid employment (56%) and men (56%).

Q. Is your home or workplace connected to the NBN? 

• Home connection to NBN has increased from 59% in January 2019 to 76%, while workplace connection is now at 34% (previously 28%).
• Would you say that your NBN internet service is better or worse than your previous service in terms of speed and reliability?

All people with NBN connection at home/work

•  There has been no improvement to the speed and reliability of NBN over the past two years. Half of people using NBN the service has improved since switching (no change from Jan’19) and a third (32%) there has been no change. 15% report having a worse service since moving to NBN?

Q. Would you approve or disapprove of privatising the NBN when it is completed in 2020?

•  A third (33%) approve of privatising the NBN when it is completed in 2020 and 38% disapprove.
• Labor voters were more likely to disapprove of privatisation (48%) than Coalition voters (31%) and Greens voters (34%).