Performance of Anthony Albanese
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?
Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | Feb’20 | Jan’20 | Dec’19 | Nov’19 | |
TOTAL: Approve | 44% | 44% | 44% | 44% | 43% | 42% | 44% | 41% | 41% | 43% | 39% | 37% |
TOTAL: Disapprove | 29% | 29% | 30% | 28% | 30% | 27% | 29% | 33% | 31% | 30% | 28% | 34% |
Don’t know | 27% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 31% | 27% | 26% | 28% | 27% | 33% | 29% |
Base (n) | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 | 1,056 | 1,081 | 1,035 | 1,075 |
Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
Strongly approve | 10% | 15% | 7% | 16% | 11% |
Approve | 33% | 50% | 27% | 27% | 30% |
Disapprove | 20% | 12% | 30% | 16% | 19% |
Strongly disapprove | 10% | 1% | 18% | 4% | 19% |
Don’t know | 27% | 21% | 18% | 36% | 20% |
TOTAL: Approve | 44% | 65% | 34% | 43% | 41% |
TOTAL: Disapprove | 29% | 13% | 47% | 21% | 38% |
Base (n) | 1,082 | 352 | 421 | 84 | 123 |
- 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%.
Preferred Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?
Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | Feb’20 | Jan’20 | Nov’19 | Oct’19 | |
Scott Morrison | 50% | 49% | 52% | 50% | 53% | 50% | 46% | 40% | 36% | 36% | 44% | 43% |
Anthony Albanese | 25% | 26% | 22% | 27% | 23% | 25% | 27% | 35% | 36% | 39% | 28% | 28% |
Don’t know | 25% | 25% | 26% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 25% | 29% | 29% |
Base (n) | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 | 1,056 | 1,081 | 1,075 | 1,088 |
Federal Voting Intention | |||||
Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | |
Scott Morrison | 50% | 25% | 82% | 32% | 48% |
Anthony Albanese | 25% | 50% | 8% | 38% | 20% |
Don’t know | 25% | 24% | 10% | 29% | 32% |
Base (n) | 1,082 | 352 | 421 | 84 | 123 |
- 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.
Performance of State Premiers
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job <NAME> is doing as State Premier?
[Only asked in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA and WA]
|
Gladys Berejiklian
NSW |
Daniel Andrews
VIC |
Annastacia Palaszczuk
QLD |
Steven Marshall
SA |
Mark McGowan
WA |
Strongly approve | 27% | 25% | 23% | 16% | 53% |
Approve | 41% | 29% | 39% | 36% | 31% |
Disapprove | 14% | 16% | 12% | 14% | 6% |
Strongly disapprove | 9% | 24% | 15% | 5% | 1% |
Don’t know | 11% | 6% | 10% | 29% | 10% |
TOTAL: Approve | 67% | 54% | 62% | 51% | 84% |
TOTAL: Disapprove | 22% | 40% | 28% | 20% | 7% |
Base (n) | 352 | 274 | 217 | 82 | 105 |
- 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%).
Federal Government led by Labor or Coalition better at…
Q. Do you think a Federal Government led by Labor or the Coalition would be better at…?
Coalition | Labor | Neither | |
Reducing national debt | 42% | 28% | 30% |
Managing the economy | 44% | 31% | 25% |
Creating jobs | 39% | 38% | 23% |
Helping those who’ve lost work because of Covid-19 get back into the workforce | 38% | 40% | 22% |
Supporting those in financial need | 35% | 42% | 23% |
Improving the financial situation of women | 31% | 38% | 31% |
- 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).
Federal Budget expectations
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?
Before budget announced
05/10/2020 |
After budget announced
19/10/2020 |
||||
NET: Very Good / Good | NET: Very bad / Bad | NET: Very Good / Good | NET: Very bad / Bad | ||
People who are well off | 51% | 10% | 56% | 7% | |
The economy overall | 34% | 32% | 41% | 19% | |
Average working people | 30% | 34% | 40% | 21% | |
Australian families | 33% | 29% | 41% | 18% | |
People on lower incomes | 30% | 40% | 35% | 31% | |
Older Australians | 31% | 34% | 29% | 31% | |
Younger Australians | 29% | 33% | 42% | 20% | |
You personally | 25% | 31% | 27% | 24% | |
Small business | 44% | 23% | 45% | 17% | |
Big business | 53% | 12% | 55% | 6% |
- 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%).
Federal Budget: Balance of interests between different groups
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?
Men and women | Total |
This budget puts the interests of men ahead of the interests of women | 31% |
This budget puts the interests of women ahead of the interests of men | 14% |
This budget was balanced between women and men | 54% |
Base (n) | 1,082 |
Young people and older people | Total |
This budget puts the interests of young people ahead of the interests of older people | 45% |
This budget puts the interests of older people ahead of the interests of young people | 21% |
This budget was balanced between the young and the old | 34% |
Base (n) | 1,082 |
Employees and businesses | Total |
This budget puts the interests of employees ahead of the interests of businesses | 14% |
This budget puts the interests of businesses ahead of the interests of employees | 42% |
This budget was balanced between businesses and employees | 45% |
Base (n) | 1,082 |
- 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.
Federal Budget and post Covid-19 economic recovery
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?
TOTAL:
Agree |
TOTAL:
Disagree |
Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Neither agree, nor disagree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | Unsure | |
The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy | 75% | 5% | 43% | 33% | 13% | 3% | 2% | 7% |
The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not | 70% | 5% | 36% | 34% | 17% | 4% | 2% | 8% |
There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services | 51% | 10% | 20% | 31% | 29% | 8% | 2% | 11% |
The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control | 49% | 21% | 18% | 32% | 22% | 15% | 6% | 7% |
- 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%).
NBN
Q. Is your home or workplace connected to the NBN?
Is your home connected to the NBN? | Is your workplace connected to the NBN? | NET: Home or work connected to NBN | |
Yes | 59% | 28% | 65% |
No | 38% | 19% | 33% |
Don’t know | 3% | 15% | 2% |
Not applicable | – | 37% | – |
Is your home connected to the NBN? | Is your workplace connected to the NBN? | NET: Home or work connected to NBN | |
Yes | 76% | 34% | 79% |
No | 20% | 10% | 19% |
Don’t know | 4% | 17% | 2% |
Not applicable | – | 38% | – |
- 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
Oct’20 | Jan’19 | |
NET: Better | 51% | 51% |
NET: Worse | 15% | 17% |
Much better | 24% | 24% |
A little better | 27% | 27% |
About the same | 32% | 30% |
A little worse | 10% | 10% |
Much worse | 7% | 7% |
Don’t know | 2% | 2% |
- 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?
Federal Voting Intention | Gender | Age | ||||||||||
Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Jan’19 | ||
Strongly approve | 11% | 11% | 12% | 20% | 15% | 18% | 5% | 11% | 16% | 6% | 9% | |
Somewhat approve | 22% | 17% | 27% | 19% | 25% | 25% | 19% | 33% | 21% | 12% | 20% | |
Somewhat disapprove | 14% | 14% | 14% | 8% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 14% | 18% | |
Strongly disapprove | 25% | 34% | 18% | 26% | 30% | 23% | 26% | 16% | 18% | 39% | 26% | |
Don’t know | 29% | 24% | 30% | 28% | 15% | 21% | 36% | 27% | 31% | 29% | 27% | |
NET: Approve | 33% | 28% | 39% | 39% | 40% | 43% | 23% | 45% | 37% | 19% | 29% | |
NET: Disapprove | 38% | 48% | 31% | 34% | 45% | 36% | 40% | 29% | 32% | 52% | 44% | |
Base (n) | 1,082 | 352 | 421 | 84 | 123 | 352 | 555 | 328 | 369 | 385 | 1,089 |
- 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%).

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Top Federal Government priorities for 2021
- Uptake of a Covid-19 vaccine
- Perceptions of change in the standard of living for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Changing views towards Australia Day
- Support towards a separate national day
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