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Public statues
Q. Some people have recently suggested that statues of Australian historical figures should have their inscriptions changed if they don’t give a complete history. Would you approve or disapprove of changing inscriptions on public statues?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other Men Women Aged 18-34 Aged 35-54 Aged 55+ Total approve 29% 39% 20% 43% 23% 30% 27% 39% 27% 19% Total disapprove 42% 34% 54% 19% 59% 45% 39% 25% 40% 61% Strongly approve 8% 10% 4% 17% 6% 8% 7% 12% 6% 5% Approve 21% 29% 16% 26% 17% 22% 20% 27% 21% 14% Disapprove 21% 19% 26% 13% 26% 22% 20% 17% 22% 24% Strongly disapprove 21% 15% 28% 6% 33% 23% 19% 8% 18% 37% Don’t know 30% 27% 24% 39% 17% 26% 34% 36% 33% 20% 29% approve of changing inscriptions on public statues where they don’t give a complete history and 42% disapprove.
Those most likely to approve were Labor voters (39%), Greens voters (43%) and aged 18-34 (39%).
Those most likely to disapprove were Liberal/National voters (54%), other party voters (59%) and aged 55+ (61%).
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Being Australian
Q. Which of the following characteristics do you see as being especially ‘Australian’?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other Men Women Aged 18-34 Aged 35-54 Aged 55+ Belief in the fair go 89% 91% 92% 83% 94% 88% 90% 81% 90% 96% Love of the great outdoors 89% 91% 88% 81% 93% 87% 91% 83% 91% 94% A sense of humour 89% 91% 89% 84% 94% 87% 91% 85% 89% 92% Interest in sports 82% 80% 87% 73% 86% 83% 82% 77% 81% 89% Helping those less fortunate 79% 80% 80% 72% 87% 78% 81% 73% 81% 84% Diversity of background 78% 81% 77% 78% 74% 75% 80% 78% 77% 79% Hard working 78% 82% 76% 82% 79% 77% 78% 77% 79% 77% Acceptance of different views 71% 75% 71% 60% 73% 70% 72% 72% 70% 69% Individual enterprise 55% 50% 63% 45% 63% 60% 51% 43% 54% 69% Respect for authority 54% 55% 59% 39% 53% 54% 54% 57% 54% 52% Suspicion of authority 31% 33% 25% 34% 38% 36% 26% 28% 29% 34% The main characteristics of Australians were thought to be the belief in a fair go (89%), love of the great outdoors (89%) and a sense of humour (89%).
Views tended to be relatively consistent across demographic groups.
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Federal voting intention
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 Last week 22/8/17 2 weeks ago 15/8/17 4 weeks ago 1/8/17 Election 2 Jul 16 Liberal 34% 34% 34% 36% National 3% 3% 3% 3% Total Liberal/National 37% 37% 37% 38% 42.0% Labor 36% 37% 39% 36% 34.7% Greens 10% 9% 9% 10% 10.2% Nick Xenophon Team 3% 3% 2% 4% Pauline Hanson’s One Nation 8% 8% 8% 8% Other/Independent 6% 6% 6% 4% 13.1% 2 party preferred Liberal National 47% 47% 46% 48% 50.4% Labor 53% 53% 54% 52% 49.6% - Sample = 1,776. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from the first preference/leaning to voting questions. 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.
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Best Government in last 10 years
Q. How would you rate the different Federal Governments Australia has had over the last 10 years? Please rank them 1 to 4 from best to worst, where 1 is the best Government, 2 the second best, 3 the third and 4 the worst.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st Vote Labor 1st Vote Lib/Nat 1st Vote Greens 1st Vote other Kevin Rudd’s (first) Labor Government 32% 27% 22% 19% 52% 8% 51% 30% Julia Gillard’s Labor Government 22% 28% 26% 24% 38% 6% 36% 19% Tony Abbott’s Coalition Government 20% 22% 21% 37% 5% 31% 2% 34% Malcolm Turnbull’s Coalition Government 26% 23% 31% 20% 6% 55% 11% 17% Note – based on the 771 respondents who answered the question.
32% thought Kevin Rudd’s Labor Government was Australia’s best Government over the last 10 years, 26% selected the Turnbull Coalition Government and 22% Julia Gillard’s Labor Government. 20% thought Tony Abbott’s Coalition Government was the best – and 37% believed it was the worst. 25% of respondents said “don’t know” and these have been excluded from these figures.
Opinions mainly follow party preferences, 90% of Labor voters selected a Labor Government and 86% of Liberal/National voters selected a Coalition Government. Greens voters preferred Labor Governments, while other party voters were divided – 34% preferred Tony Abbott’s Coalition Government and 30% selected Kevin Rudd’s Labor Government.
On a head-to-head basis –
57% rank Kevin Rudd ahead of Julia Gillard, 60% rank him ahead of Tony Abbott and 55% rank him better than Malcolm Turnbull.
54% rank Julia Gillard ahead of Tony Abbott and 51% rank her better than Malcolm Turnbull.
61% rank Malcolm Turnbull ahead of Tony Abbott.
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Fairness of tax system
Q. Now thinking about taxes – overall, how fair do you think our present Federal tax system is?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other Income less than $600 pw Income $600 – $1,000 pw Income $1,000 – $1,600 pw Income $1,600- $2,000 pw Income $2,000+ pw Dec 2015 Apr 2016 Total fair 40% 36% 57% 26% 28% 43% 38% 40% 41% 43% 40% 36% Total not fair 51% 58% 36% 67% 67% 46% 49% 53% 54% 51% 52% 55% Very fair 4% 4% 6% – 3% 7% 4% 2% 2% 5% 4% 3% Moderately fair 36% 32% 51% 26% 25% 36% 34% 38% 39% 38% 36% 33% Not too fair 27% 27% 23% 39% 30% 24% 23% 28% 28% 30% 30% 30% Not fair at all 24% 31% 13% 28% 37% 22% 26% 25% 26% 21% 22% 25% Don’t know 10% 7% 65 6% 5% 115 13% 7% 5% 6% 8% 10% 40% think the Federal tax system is very or moderately fair and 51% think it is not too fair or not fair at all. This represents a small shift toward thinking the tax system is fair since this question was asked in April last year.
Those most likely to think it not fair were Greens voters (67%) and other voters (67%).
Those most likely to think it is fair were Liberal/National voters (57%) and university educated (49%).
There was little difference across income groups.
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View of tax system
Q. How much, if at all, does each of the following bother you about the Federal tax system? Do they bother you a lot, some, not too much, or not at all?
A lot Some Not too much Not at all Don’t know Dec 2015 The feeling that some corporations don’t pay their fair share 60% 24% 8% 2% 6% 59% The feeling that some wealthy people don’t pay their fair share 53% 25% 12% 4% 6% 54% The complexity of the tax system 26% 37% 22% 7% 9% 28% The amount you pay in taxes 22% 34% 24% 11% 9% 23% The feeling that some poor people don’t pay their fair share 12% 20% 28% 32% 8% 12% 60% are bothered a lot by the feeling that some corporations don’t pay their fair share of tax and 53% are bothered a lot by the feeling that some wealthy people don’t pay their fair share.
26% are bothered a lot by the complexity of the system, 22% by the amount of tax they pay and 12% by the feeling that some poor people don’t pay their fair share. These figures have changed little since this question was asked in December 2015.
Bothered a lot Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other Income less than $600 pw Income $600 – $1,000 pw Income $1,000 – $1,600 pw Income $1,600- $2,000 pw Income $2,000 + pw The feeling that some corporations don’t pay their fair share 60% 71% 51% 67% 69% 64% 66% 62% 59% 59% The feeling that some wealthy people don’t pay their fair share 53% 66% 40% 66% 60% 59% 52% 58% 55% 50% The complexity of the tax system 26% 28% 25% 16% 36% 27% 28% 28% 22% 28% The amount you pay in taxes 22% 20% 19% 21% 36% 12% 18% 22% 31% 26% The feeling that some poor people don’t pay their fair share 12% 13% 14% 4% 14% 9% 8% 12% 17% 17% Those more likely to be bothered by the feeling that some corporations don’t pay their fair share were Labor voters (71%), Greens voters (71%), other party voters (69%), aged 55+ (77%), incomes $600-1,000 pw (66%) and those not working (66%).
Those more likely to be bothered by the feeling that some wealthy people don’t pay their fair share were aged 45+ (63%), Labor voters (66%) and Greens voters (66%).
Those more likely to be bothered by the complexity of the tax system were aged 55-64 (39%).
Those more likely to be bothered by the amount they pay were aged 35-44 (31%), other party voters (36%) and families with dependent children (29%).
Those more likely to be bothered by the feeling that some poor people don’t pay their fair share were aged 35-44 (19%) and full-time workers (17%).
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Dual citizenship
Q. Two members of Parliament have resigned and the position of several others is under question because they may be dual citizens of other countries. Do you think dual citizens should or should not be allowed to be members of Parliament?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other Should be allowed 41% 37% 53% 42% 30% Should not be allowed 40% 49% 34% 33% 54% Don’t know 18% 14% 13% 25% 17% 41% think that dual citizens should be allowed to be members of Parliament and 40% think they should not.
Those most likely to think they should be allowed to be members of Parliament were Liberal/National voters (53%) and university educated (49%).
Those most likely to think they should be not allowed to be members of Parliament were Labor voters (49%), other party voters (54%) and aged 45-54 (50%).
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Should Ministers stand down
Q. Should Ministers who may hold dual citizenship – such as Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash – stand down until their cases are decided by the High Court?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other Should stand down 41% 59% 25% 47% 45% Should not stand down 40% 28% 59% 33% 40% Don’t know 19% 13% 15% 21% 15% 41% think that Ministers who may hold dual citizenship should stand down until their cases are decided by the High Court and 40% think they should not.
59% of Labor voters think they should stand down and 59% of Liberal/National voters think they should not.