Q. Do you support or oppose the following Government proposals for tax cuts?
| Total support | Total
oppose |
Strongly support | Support | Oppose | Strongly oppose | Don’t know | ||
| A tax cut of $530 for middle and lower income earners from next year. | 79% | 9% | 35% | 44% | 6% | 3% | 12% | |
| Changing the tax rates so that workers earning between $40,000 and $200,000 pay the same rate of tax | 37% | 47% | 12% | 25% | 28% | 19% | 16% | |
| Cutting the tax rate for businesses from 30% to 25% estimated to cost $65 billion over the next 10 years | 39% | 39% | 12% | 27% | 21% | 18% | 23% |
There was strong support (79%) for the proposed tax cut of $530 for middle and lower income earners from next year.
However, respondents were more likely to oppose changing the tax rates so that workers earning between $40,000 and $200,000 pay the same rate of tax (37% support/47% oppose). Full-time workers were split on this (45% support/43% oppose) while part-time workers were strongly opposed (29% support/56% oppose). All income groups were more likely to be opposed except for those earning over $2,000 pw who were split 47% support/42% oppose.
Respondents were evenly divided over cutting the tax rate for businesses (39% support/39% oppose). Liberal National voters tended to support this (56% support/28% oppose) while Labor voters were more likely to be opposed (29% support/51% oppose).
Q. The Government’s budget proposes to provide a tax cut of $530 for middle and lower income earners from next year, and then in seven years change the tax rates so that workers earning between $40,000 and $200,000 pay the same rate of tax. Labor proposes to provide a larger tax cut of $928 for middle and lower income earners, and ask those in the top tax bracket to pay a little more to help reduce the deficit. Which of these proposals do you prefer?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | May 2018 | |||
| The Government proposal | 29% | 12% | 53% | 18% | 27% | 33% | ||
| The Labor proposal | 50% | 76% | 30% | 65% | 52% | 45% | ||
| Don’t know | 21% | 12% | 17% | 17% | 21% | 22% |
50% prefer the Labor tax plan and 33% the Government’s plan.
All income groups strongly favour the Labor plan. Even those earning more than $2,000 pw favour then Labor plan 50% to 36%.
Since this question was asked last month there has been a considerable shift in favour of the Labor plan.
Q. Do you think funding for the following ABC services should be increased, decreased or stay the same?
| Increase funding | Decrease funding | Same funding | Don’t know | |
| Local news in rural and regional areas | 36% | 11% | 38% | 16% |
| Emergency broadcasts | 45% | 8% | 32% | 15% |
| Children’s entertainment | 20% | 14% | 50% | 15% |
| News and current affairs | 28% | 13% | 45% | 14% |
| Support for local Australian content and film makers | 38% | 12% | 35% | 16% |
The majority believe that funding for all ABC services should be increased or maintained.
The services with most support for increased funding were emergency broadcasts (45%), local Australian content and film makers (38%) and local news in rural and regional areas (36%).
Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward? If don’t know – Well which party are you currently leaning to?
| Total | 2 weeks ago 22/5/18 | 4 weeks ago 8/5/18 | Election 2 Jul 16 | |
| Liberal | 34% | 38% | 35% | |
| National | 3% | 2% | 3% | |
| Total Liberal/National | 36% | 40% | 38% | 42.0% |
| Labor | 37% | 36% | 37% | 34.7% |
| Greens | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10.2% |
| Nick Xenophon Team | 2% | 1% | 2% | |
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 8% | 8% | 6% | |
| Other/Independent | 7% | 6% | 6% | 13.1% |
| 2 party preferred | ||||
| Liberal National | 46% | 49% | 47% | 50.4% |
| Labor | 54% | 51% | 53% | 49.6% |
Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results. The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2016 election.
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote Other | May 2018 | Apr 2018 | Mar 2018 | |
| Total approve | 42% | 28% | 79% | 22% | 24% | 40% | 39% | 41% |
| Total disapprove | 42% | 60% | 14% | 61% | 63% | 42% | 42% | 43% |
| Strongly approve | 7% | 5% | 17% | 3% | 2% | 9% | 8% | 9% |
| Approve | 34% | 23% | 62% | 19% | 22% | 31% | 31% | 32% |
| Disapprove | 23% | 30% | 11% | 35% | 35% | 22% | 26% | 26% |
| Strongly disapprove | 18% | 30% | 3% | 26% | 28% | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 16% | 12% | 7% | 16% | 12% | 19% | 19% | 16% |
42% approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister (up 2% from last month), and 42% disapproved (no change) – a change in net approval rating from -2 to 0. This is Malcolm Turnbull’s best net approval rating since June 2016.
79% (up 6%) of Liberal/National voters approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing, compared to 28% of ALP voters and 22% of Greens and 24% of other voters.
By gender, men were 48% approve/43% disapprove and women 36% approve/41% disapprove.
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Bill Shorten is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | May 2018 | Apr 2018 | Mar 2018 | |
| Total Approve | 33% | 63% | 19% | 33% | 16% | 37% | 35% | 37% |
| Total Disapprove | 46% | 20% | 71% | 44% | 69% | 41% | 43% | 44% |
| Strongly approve | 6% | 16% | 3% | – | 3% | 8% | 6% | 8% |
| Approve | 27% | 47% | 16% | 33% | 13% | 29% | 29% | 29% |
| Disapprove | 23% | 17% | 29% | 34% | 27% | 21% | 22% | 23% |
| Strongly disapprove | 23% | 3% | 42% | 10% | 42% | 20% | 21% | 21% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 17% | 10% | 22% | 15% | 23% | 23% | 19% |
33% approved of the job Bill Shorten is doing as Opposition Leader (down 4% from last month), and 46% disapproved (up 5%) – a change in net approval rating from -4 to -13.
62% (down 2%) of ALP voters approved of the job Bill Shorten is doing, compared to 33% of Greens voters and 19% of Liberal/National voters.
By gender, men were 36% approve/51% disapprove and women 32% approve/40% disapprove.
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | May 2018 | Apr 2018 | Mar 2018 | Dec 2017 | |
| Malcolm Turnbull | 41% | 18% | 82% | 21% | 38% | 40% | 41% | 41% | 42% |
| Bill Shorten | 27% | 55% | 6% | 40% | 13% | 26% | 26% | 26% | 28% |
| Don’t know | 32% | 27% | 12% | 39% | 48% | 34% | 33% | 33% | 31% |
41% thought that Malcolm Turnbull would make the better Prime Minister (up 1% from last month), and 27% thought Bill Shorten would be better (up 1%). 32% did not know who would make a better Prime Minister.
The results were split by party, with 82% of Liberal/National voters saying that Malcolm Turnbull would be a better Prime Minister, and 55% of Labor voters saying Bill Shorten would.
Greens voters preferred Bill Shorten (40%) to Malcolm Turnbull (21%).
48% of men prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 27% prefer Bill Shorten.
34% of women prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 26% prefer Bill Shorten.
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Federal Government’s proposal to cut the tax rate for businesses from 30% to 25% estimated to cost $65 billion over the next 10 years?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Total Approve | 37% | 22% | 65% | 22% | 38% | |
| Total Disapprove | 37% | 56% | 16% | 52% | 41% | |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 6% | 21% | 2% | 11% | |
| Approve | 26% | 16% | 44% | 20% | 27% | |
| Disapprove | 19% | 26% | 10% | 31% | 19% | |
| Strongly disapprove | 18% | 30% | 6% | 21% | 22% | |
| Don’t know | 26% | 23% | 20% | 26% | 22% |
37% approve of the Federal Government’s proposal for business tax cuts and 37% disapprove. 26% did not give an opinion.
65% of Liberal National voters approve but 56% of Labor voters and 52% of Greens voters disapprove. Other voters are split 38% approve, 41% disapprove. 42% of full-time workers approve and 33% disapprove.