Q. Thinking about some of the major decisions the Federal Government has made over the years, do you think the following decisions have been good for Australia or bad for Australia?
| Total good | Total bad | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | Total Good (Oct 2016) | ||
| Compulsory superannuation | 75% | 5% | 39% | 36% | 12% | 3% | 2% | 8% | 71% | |
| Medibank (Now Medicare) | 56% | 14% | 26% | 30% | 19% | 9% | 5% | 11% | 63% | |
| Introducing the GST | 43% | 24% | 11% | 32% | 24% | 14% | 10% | 9% | 46% | |
| Free trade agreements | 41% | 16% | 10% | 31% | 27% | 9% | 7% | 17% | 38% | |
| Floating the dollar | 37% | 10% | 10% | 27% | 27% | 7% | 3% | 25% | 33% | |
| Reducing subsidies to car manufacturing | 35% | 25% | 10% | 25% | 24% | 17% | 8% | 16% | 28% | |
| Privatising Qantas | 31% | 29% | 6% | 25% | 24% | 19% | 10% | 15% | 28% | |
| Privatising Telstra | 27% | 39% | 6% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 16% | 13% | 22% | |
| Privatising the Commonwealth Bank | 26% | 34% | 7% | 19% | 24% | 19% | 15% | 16% | 24% |
The least popular government initiative was privatising Telstra, which 39% thought was bad. Those most likely to think this decision was bad were South Australians (57% bad), other party/independent voters (55%) and those aged 55-64 (53%).The most popular government initiative listed was compulsory superannuation, which 75% thought was good. Those most likely to think this decision was good were those aged 65+ (86% good), Liberal/National voters (85%) and Western Australians (82%). 11% of other party/independent voters thought compulsory superannuation was bad.
The largest changes since this question was last asked in October 2016 were for Medibank/Medicare, approval for which dropped by 7%, and reducing car manufacturing subsidies, approval for which increased by 7%.
Q. It was recently announced that a number of countries, including Australia, will resume negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement without the United States, who have withdrawn from the agreement.
Do you think the TPP will be good or bad for the following:
| Total good | Total bad | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | Total Good (Oct 2015) | |||
| Multinational companies | 48% | 6% | 16% | 32% | 19% | 5% | 1% | 27% | 57% | ||
| Mining companies | 41% | 8% | 11% | 30% | 22% | 6% | 2% | 29% | 47% | ||
| Australian businesses overall | 36% | 16% | 5% | 31% | 21% | 11% | 5% | 27% | 47% | ||
| Beef farmers | 37% | 17% | 7% | 30% | 18% | 12% | 5% | 29% | 45% | ||
| Australia consumers | 34% | 18% | 7% | 27% | 22% | 12% | 6% | 26% | – | ||
| The Australian economy in general | 34% | 18% | 6% | 28% | 20% | 13% | 5% | 27% | 44% | ||
| Sugar farmers | 32% | 18% | 6% | 26% | 19% | 13% | 5% | 31% | 39% | ||
| Manufacturing companies | 32% | 20% | 6% | 26% | 20% | 12% | 8% | 27% | 42% | ||
| Dairy farmers | 31% | 20% | 6% | 25% | 20% | 14% | 6% | 29% | 42% | ||
| Australian workers | 28% | 23% | 5% | 23% | 22% | 14% | 9% | 27% | 32% | ||
| Small businesses | 27% | 22% | 4% | 23% | 23% | 17% | 5% | 27% | 21% | ||
48% thought that the TPP would be good for multinational companies, and only 6% thought it would be bad. Those most likely to think it would be good were those aged 55-64 (60% good), and Liberal/National voters (56%).
For each group in the list, the proportion who thought the TPP would be good for it was greater than the proportion who thought it would be bad.
Since this question was last asked in October 2015, the percentage who thought the TPP would be good has decreased for each group in the list except for small businesses, which has increased by 6%.
Q. The recent Federal Budget contained a levy on the big banks, which is forecast to raise $6.2bn from Australia’s five largest banks over the next four years, but will not apply to smaller banks or foreign banks who operate in Australia. Who do you think the bank levy should be applied to?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Large Australian banks only | 12% | 16% | 12% | 15% | 8% | |
| Large Australian banks and foreign banks operating in Australia | 48% | 46% | 52% | 50% | 59% | |
| Small and large Australian banks and foreign banks operating in Australia | 16% | 16% | 18% | 13% | 17% | |
| The levy should not apply to any bank | 10% | 10% | 9% | 10% | 9% | |
| Don’t know | 14% | 12% | 8% | 13% | 8% |
48% thought the bank levy should be extended to include foreign banks operating in Australia, but not smaller Australian banks. Those most likely to think this were those aged 65+ (59%) and other party/independent voters (59%).
Overall, 64% thought that the bank levy should apply to foreign banks operating in Australia.
Q. The Catholic school sector is opposing the proposed changes to education funding announced in the federal budget, arguing that some Catholic schools will receive less money under this model. Do you think the new funding model will leave Catholic schools worse off?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Yes, Catholic schools will be worse off under the new funding model | 20% | 27% | 20% | 19% | 15% | |
| No, Catholic schools will not be worse off under the new funding model | 38% | 31% | 47% | 36% | 43% | |
| Don’t know | 42% | 43% | 33% | 45% | 42% |
20% thought that Catholic school would be worse off under the proposed funding model. Those most likely to think this were those aged 18-24 (27%) and ALP voters (27%).
38% thought that Catholic schools would not be worse off under the proposed funding model. Those most likely to think this were those aged 65+ (58%) and Liberal/National voters (47%).
A plurality of 42% did not know whether Catholic schools would be worse off under the proposed new funding model.
Q. Do you think you would be better off with a personal income tax cut, or strengthened workplace laws that enable you to negotiate a pay rise from your employer?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| A personal income tax cut | 52% | 55% | 54% | 49% | 55% | |
| Stronger workplace laws that allow me to negotiate a pay rise from my employer | 23% | 24% | 23% | 31% | 20% | |
| Don’t know | 25% | 21% | 23% | 20% | 25% |
52% thought they would be better off with a personal income tax cut than stronger workplace laws. Those most likely to think this were those aged 45-54 (63%), those working full time (61%) and those aged 35-44 (60%).
23% thought they would be better off with stronger workplace laws than a personal income tax cut. Those most likely to think this were South Australians (31% prefer), Greens voters (31%) and Victorians (29%).
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 16/5/17 | 2 weeks ago 9/5/17 | 4 weeks ago 25/4/17 | Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 34% | 34% | 35% | 34% | |||
| National | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 37% | 37% | 37% | 38% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 37% | 38% | 38% | 37% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 10% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 6% | 6% | 6% | 7% | |||
| Other/Independent | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 13.1% | ||
| 2 party preferred | |||||||
| Liberal National | 46% | 46% | 46% | 47% | 50.4% | ||
| Labor | 54% | 54% | 54% | 53% | 49.6% |
Q. Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various political parties. Which statements do you feel fit the Labor Party?
| Total | Change | Jul 2009 | April 2011 | Aug 2013 | Nov 2015 | Mar 2016 | Jun 2016 | Mar 2017 | ||
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 61% | -2 | 57% | 72% | 65% | 64% | 62% | 64% | 63% | |
| Looks after the interests of working people | 57% | -4 | 39% | 53% | 55% | 50% | 56% | 61% | ||
| Moderate | 56% | -2 | 65% | 51% | 48% | 56% | 47% | 54% | 58% | |
| Has policies that lead to a fairer Australia | 51% | – | ||||||||
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 51% | -1 | 62% | 40% | 50% | 48% | 43% | 49% | 52% | |
| Divided | 50% | +1 | 30% | 66% | 66% | 58% | 54% | 49% | 49% | |
| Have a vision for the future | 49% | -3 | 43% | 49% | 42% | 40% | 48% | 52% | ||
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 47% | -3 | 44% | 61% | 51% | 52% | 53% | 46% | 50% | |
| Have good policies | 45% | -5 | 46% | 42% | 38% | 46% | 50% | |||
| Clear about what they stand for | 42% | -5 | 28% | 38% | 37% | 35% | 43% | 47% | ||
| Has a good team of leaders | 38% | -3 | 60% | 34% | 36% | 33% | 30% | 39% | 41% | |
| Too close to the big corporate and financial interests | 35% | -5 | 46% | 31% | 37% | 35% | 35% | 40% | ||
| Trustworthy | 34% | -1 | 30% | 34% | 29% | 33% | 35% | |||
| Keeps its promises | 32% | -2 | 44% | 20% | 27% | 29% | 28% | 31% | 34% | |
| Extreme | 28% | – | 25% | 38% | 34% | 30% | 35% | 30% | 28% |
The attributes most commonly associated with the Labor party were “will promise to do anything to win votes” (61%), “looks after the interests of working people” (57%), and “moderate” (56%). Those least commonly associated were “extreme” (28%), “keeps its promises” (32%) and “trustworthy” (34%).
The biggest changes since this question was last asked in March were “have good policies”, “clear about what they stand for” and “too close to the big corporate and financial interests”, all of which dropped by 5%.
Q. And which statements do you feel fit the Liberal Party?
| Total | Change | Jul 2009 | April 2011 | Aug 2013 | Nov 2015 | Mar 2016 | Jun 2016 | Mar 2017 | ||
| Too close to the big corporate and financial interests | 69% | -2 | 60% | 60% | 67% | 62% | 66% | 71% | ||
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 69% | -2 | 67% | 65% | 65% | 68% | 63% | 65% | 71% | |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 68% | – | 62% | 54% | 58% | 62% | 58% | 63% | 68% | |
| Divided | 64% | -4 | 74% | 49% | 31% | 56% | 61% | 52% | 68% | |
| Moderate | 48% | -1 | 50% | 55% | 48% | 51% | 47% | 47% | 49% | |
| Have a vision for the future | 48% | +3 | 48% | 51% | 54% | 46% | 51% | 45% | ||
| Clear about what they stand for | 41% | – | 44% | 45% | 46% | 39% | 46% | 41% | ||
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 39% | -2 | 44% | 51% | 48% | 46% | 41% | 44% | 41% | |
| Extreme | 38% | +2 | 36% | 36% | 39% | 39% | 36% | 38% | 36% | |
| Have good policies | 36% | – | 38% | 43% | 39% | 41% | 36% | |||
| Has policies that lead to a fairer Australia | 34% | – | ||||||||
| Has a good team of leaders | 32% | -1 | 29% | 40% | 36% | 48% | 41% | 42% | 33% | |
| Looks after the interests of working people | 28% | -2 | 38% | 36% | 32% | 31% | 31% | 30% | ||
| Trustworthy | 25% | -3 | 30% | 29% | 28% | 30% | 28% | |||
| Keeps its promises | 25% | – | 28% | 33% | 32% | 25% | 27% | 30% | 25% |
The attributes most commonly associated with the Liberal party were “too close to the big corporate and financial interests” (69%), “will promise to do anything to win votes” (69%), and “out of touch with ordinary people” (68%). Those least commonly associated were “keeps its promises” (25%), “trustworthy” (25%) and “looks after the interests of working people” (28%).
The biggest changes since this question was last asked in March were “divided”, which dropped by 4%, “trustworthy”, which dropped by 3%, and “have a vision for the future”, which rose by 3%.