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 | Mar 2018 | Dec 2017 | Sep 2017 | June 2017 | Mar 2017 | Dec 2016 | June 2016 | Dec 2015 | |||
| Total approve | 39% | 24% | 70% | 33% | 25% | 41% | 41% | 41% | 36% | 33% | 34% | 38% | 56% | ||
| Total disapprove | 42% | 62% | 20% | 49% | 62% | 43% | 44% | 46% | 45% | 50% | 46% | 40% | 23% | ||
| Strongly approve | 8% | 4% | 17% | 3% | 5% | 9% | 8% | 7% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 13% | ||
| Approve | 31% | 20% | 53% | 30% | 20% | 32% | 33% | 34% | 31% | 28% | 29% | 32% | 43% | ||
| Disapprove | 26% | 36% | 17% | 30% | 31% | 26% | 27% | 28% | 28% | 30% | 30% | 24% | 16% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 16% | 26% | 3% | 19% | 31% | 17% | 17% | 18% | 17% | 20% | 16% | 16% | 7% | ||
| Don’t know | 19% | 14% | 10% | 18% | 14% | 16% | 15% | 14% | 19% | 18% | 20% | 21% | 21% |
39% approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister (down 2% from last month), and 42% disapproved (down 1%) – a change in net approval rating from -2 to -3.
70% (down 5%) of Liberal/National voters approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing, compared to 24% of ALP voters and 33% of Greens voters.
By gender, men were 44% approve/45% disapprove and women 35% approve/40% 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 | Mar 2018 | Dec 2017 | Sep 2017 | June 2017 | Mar 2017 | Dec 2016 | Dec 2015 | Dec 2014 | |||
| Total Approve | 35% | 59% | 23% | 40% | 15% | 37% | 36% | 36% | 34% | 30% | 35% | 27% | 35% | ||
| Total Disapprove | 43% | 21% | 62% | 37% | 68% | 44% | 45% | 47% | 43% | 49% | 38% | 47% | 39% | ||
| Strongly approve | 6% | 14% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 4% | 7% | ||
| Approve | 29% | 45% | 21% | 37% | 13% | 29% | 29% | 29% | 29% | 26% | 29% | 23% | 28% | ||
| Disapprove | 22% | 19% | 22% | 32% | 28% | 23% | 23% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 21% | 26% | 23% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 21% | 2% | 40% | 5% | 40% | 21% | 22% | 22% | 15% | 23% | 17% | 21% | 16% | ||
| Don’t know | 23% | 19% | 14% | 23% | 17% | 19% | 19% | 17% | 23% | 22% | 25% | 25% | 26% |
35% approved of the job Bill Shorten is doing as Opposition Leader (down 2% from last month), and 43% disapproved (down 1%) – a change in net approval rating from -7 to -8.
59% (down 7%) of ALP voters approved of the job Bill Shorten is doing, compared to 40% of Greens voters and 23% of Liberal/National voters.
By gender, men were 39% approve/45% disapprove and women 31% approve/39% 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 | Mar 2018 | Dec 2017 | Sep 2017 | June 2017 | Mar 2017 | Dec 2016 | Jun 2016 | Dec 2015 | |||
| Malcolm Turnbull | 41% | 18% | 78% | 30% | 38% | 41% | 42% | 43% | 39% | 38% | 39% | 40% | 54% | ||
| Bill Shorten | 26% | 55% | 8% | 34% | 12% | 26% | 28% | 29% | 26% | 26% | 28% | 29% | 15% | ||
| Don’t know | 33% | 26% | 15% | 36% | 50% | 33% | 31% | 28% | 34% | 36% | 33% | 32% | 31% |
41% thought that Malcolm Turnbull would make the better Prime Minister (no change from last month), and 26% thought Bill Shorten would be better (no change). 33% did not know who would make a better Prime Minister.
The results were split by party, with 78% 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 (34%) to Malcolm Turnbull (30%).
46% of men prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 28% prefer Bill Shorten.
35% of women prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 25% prefer Bill Shorten.
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull?
| Total | Jun 2017 | Feb 2017 | Change | ||
| Intelligent | 74% | 72% | 72% | +2 | |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 63% | 65% | 65% | -2 | |
| Hard-working | 60% | 59% | 61% | +1 | |
| A capable leader | 53% | 50% | 50% | +3 | |
| Arrogant | 51% | 55% | 56% | -4 | |
| Superficial | 51% | 52% | 52% | -1 | |
| Good in a crisis | 47% | 45% | 44% | +2 | |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 45% | 43% | 44% | +2 | |
| Narrow-minded | 44% | 47% | 48% | -3 | |
| Trustworthy | 38% | 35% | 36% | +3 | |
| More honest than most politicians | 36% | 33% | 34% | +3 | |
| Intolerant | 34% | 37% | 39% | -3 | |
| Erratic | 34% | 36% | 34% | -2 | |
| Visionary | 34% | 34% | 30% | – | |
| Aggressive | 30% | 34% | 31% | -4 |
Malcolm Turnbull’s key attributes were intelligent (74%, up 2% since last June), out of touch with ordinary people (63%, down 2%), hard working (60%, up 1%) and a capable leader (53%, up 3%).
There have mostly only been small changes in perceptions since last June. The largest changes have been for arrogant (down 4%) and aggressive (down 4%).
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten?
| Total | Jun 2017 | Feb 2017 | Change | ||
| Hard working | 60% | 59% | 61% | +1 | |
| Intelligent | 59% | 58% | 60% | +1 | |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 50% | 47% | 47% | +3 | |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 47% | 48% | 48% | -1 | |
| Superficial | 47% | 44% | 46% | +3 | |
| A capable leader | 44% | 39% | 43% | +5 | |
| Narrow-minded | 44% | 42% | 42% | +2 | |
| Arrogant | 43% | 42% | 44% | +1 | |
| Erratic | 40% | 40% | 38% | – | |
| Good in a crisis | 40% | 35% | 37% | +5 | |
| Aggressive | 36% | 35% | 35% | +1 | |
| Intolerant | 36% | 34% | 36% | +2 | |
| Trustworthy | 33% | 31% | 32% | +2 | |
| Visionary | 33% | 29% | 29% | +4 | |
| More honest than most politicians | 30% | 26% | 29% | +4 |
Bill Shorten’s key attributes were hard working (60%, up 1% since last June), intelligent (59%, up 1%), out of touch with ordinary people (50%, up 3%) and .understands the problems facing Australia (47%, down 1%).
There have only been small changes in perceptions since June. The main changes have been for a capable leader (up 5%) and good in a crisis (up 5%).
| Malcolm Turnbull | Bill Shorten | Difference | ||
| Intelligent | 74% | 59% | +15 | |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 63% | 50% | +13 | |
| A capable leader | 53% | 44% | +9 | |
| Arrogant | 51% | 43% | +8 | |
| Good in a crisis | 47% | 40% | +7 | |
| More honest than most politicians | 36% | 30% | +6 | |
| Trustworthy | 38% | 33% | +5 | |
| Superficial | 51% | 47% | +4 | |
| Visionary | 34% | 33% | +1 | |
| Narrow-minded | 44% | 44% | – | |
| Hard-working | 60% | 60% | – | |
| Intolerant | 34% | 36% | -2 | |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 45% | 47% | -2 | |
| Aggressive | 30% | 36% | -6 | |
| Erratic | 34% | 40% | -6 |
Compared to Bill Shorten, Malcolm Turnbull is more likely to be considered intelligent (+15), out of touch with ordinary people (+13), a capable leader (+9), arrogant (+8) and good in a crisis (+7).
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Jun 2014 | Aug 2015 | Mar 2016 | Nov 2016 | Mar 2017 | Aug 2017 | Dec 2017 | |||
| Malcolm Turnbull | 24% | 17% | 45% | 16% | 14% | 31% | 24% | 39% | 21% | 20% | 25% | 21% | ||
| Tony Abbott | 11% | 7% | 17% | 2% | 18% | 18% | 18% | 9% | 11% | 10% | 10% | 10% | ||
| Julie Bishop | 17% | 24% | 13% | 25% | 16% | 4% | 17% | 12% | 20% | 17% | 20% | 19% | ||
| Christopher Pyne | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | <1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | ||
| Scott Morrison | 2% | 2% | 3% | – | 2% | 1% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% | ||
| Peter Dutton | 3% | 3% | 4% | 1% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 4% | ||||||
| Someone else | 14% | 19% | 5% | 22% | 18% | 19% | 13% | 15% | 18% | 18% | 13% | 15% | ||
| Don’t know | 27% | 27% | 11% | 33% | 22% | 21% | 22% | 21% | 25% | 28% | 25% | 27% |
24% (up 3% since December) think Malcolm Turnbull would make the best leader of the Liberal Party, 17% prefer Julie Bishop (down 2%) and 11% prefer Tony Abbott (up 1%). 14% (down 1%) prefer someone else.
Among Liberal/National voters, 45% (up 5%) prefer Malcolm Turnbull, 13% (down 7%) Julie Bishop and 17% (up 4%) prefer Tony Abbott.
Preferences of men were Malcolm Turnbull 28% (+4%), Julie Bishop 16% (-2%) and Tony Abbott 13% (-).
Preferences of women were Malcolm Turnbull 21% (+3%), Julie Bishop 17% (-3%) and Tony Abbott 9% (+1%).
Q. Excluding Malcolm Turnbull, which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Tony Abbott | 16% | 12% | 26% | 1% | 21% | |
| Julie Bishop | 26% | 28% | 30% | 31% | 24% | |
| Christopher Pyne | 4% | 4% | 7% | 4% | 3% | |
| Scott Morrison | 5% | 5% | 6% | 3% | 4% | |
| Peter Dutton | 5% | 3% | 8% | 3% | 9% | |
| Someone else | 14% | 18% | 6% | 27% | 18% | |
| Don’t know | 30% | 30% | 17% | 29% | 21% |
Excluding Malcolm Turnbull, 26% think Julie Bishop would make the best leader of the Liberal Party and 16% prefer Tony Abbott.
Among Liberal/National voters, 30% prefer Julie Bishop, 26% prefer Tony Abbott and 8% Peter Dutton.
Preferences of men were Julie Bishop 26% and Tony Abbott 19%.
Preferences of women were Julie Bishop 26% and Tony Abbott 14%.