Q. Which party do you most trust to properly fund the following:
| Labor | Coalition | Don’t know | |
| Medicare | 44% | 26% | 29% |
| National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) | 36% | 28% | 36% |
| Universities | 41% | 25% | 34% |
| The age pension | 45% | 22% | 33% |
| Public schools | 45% | 25% | 30% |
| Independent/private schools | 20% | 44% | 36% |
Labor was more trusted to fund Medicare (44% trust), the NDIS (36%), universities (41%), the age pension (45%) and public schools (45%). The Coalition was more trusted to fund independent/private schools (44%).
36% did not know who they would trust more to properly fund the NDIS.
| Total approve | Total disapprove | Strongly approve | Approve | Neither approve nor disapprove | Disapprove | Strongly disapprove | Don’t know | |||
| Create a $100m fund to invest in TAFE campuses | 57% | 10% | 19% | 38% | 24% | 6% | 4% | 10% | ||
| Restrict the Medicare levy increase to taxpayers earning more than $87k per year, rather than all taxpayers | 55% | 21% | 22% | 33% | 15% | 12% | 9% | 10% | ||
| Require at least one in ten people employed on every government infrastructure project to be an apprentice | 55% | 9% | 17% | 38% | 24% | 6% | 3% | 12% | ||
| Continue the ‘deficit levy’ on earnings above $180k per year | 54% | 10% | 21% | 33% | 18% | 6% | 4% | 18% | ||
| Oppose a cut to the company tax rate, which is expected to cost $65bn over ten years. | 41% | 23% | 20% | 21% | 21% | 14% | 9% | 16% | ||
The most popular measure was the $100m TAFE fund, which was supported by 57%. Support for this proposal was strongest amongst Labor voters (69% approve) and those aged 45-64 (63%).
The least popular measure was opposing the Coalition’s company tax cut, thought this still received 41% approval, and only 23% disapproval. Liberal/National voters were the only group in which more people disapproved (36%) than approved (25%) of this measure.
Q. Last week’s 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. What do you think is most likely to happen as a result of this levy?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Banks will pass on the cost of the levy to customers through higher fees, charges and interest rates | 78% | 85% | 72% | 83% | 90% | |
| Banks will not increase fees, charges and interest rate, and will pay the cost of the levy out of their own profits | 7% | 4% | 12% | 6% | 3% | |
| Don’t know | 15% | 11% | 16% | 11% | 7% |
78% thought that the banks would pass the cost of the levy onto their customers. The most likely to think this were other party/independent voters (90%), those aged 65+ (89%) and Labor voters (85%).
Only 7% thought that the banks would not increase their fees, and would pay the levy from their own profits. The most likely to think that this would happen were Liberal/National voters (12%) and those aged 25-34 (10%).
Q. Last week’s Federal Budget contained the removal of the “deficit levy” of 2% of earnings above $180k per year. This would lower the top tax bracket from 49% to 47%. Do you approve of this measure?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Total approve | 24% | 19% | 36% | 13% | 24% | |
| Total disapprove | 39% | 46% | 26% | 53% | 47% | |
| Strongly approve | 6% | 3% | 10% | 5% | 10% | |
| Approve | 18% | 16% | 26% | 8% | 14% | |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 21% | 21% | 26% | 12% | 17% | |
| Disapprove | 21% | 22% | 19% | 26% | 21% | |
| Strongly disapprove | 18% | 24% | 7% | 27% | 26% | |
| Don’t know | 17% | 14% | 12% | 23% | 12% |
39% disapprove of the measure to remove the deficit levy, and only 24% approved. Those most likely to disapprove of the measure were Greens voters (53% disapprove), those aged 65+ (49%), and West Australians (48%). Those most likely to approve were Liberal/National voters (37% approve) and those earning over $104k per year (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 9/5/17 | 2 weeks ago 2/5/17 | 4 weeks ago 18/4/17 | Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 34% | 35% | 35% | 33% | |||
| National | 3% | 2% | 2% | 3% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 37% | 37% | 38% | 36% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 38% | 38% | 37% | 37% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 10% | 10% | 9% | 10% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 6% | 6% | 7% | 8% | |||
| Other/Independent | 6% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 13.1% | ||
| 2 party preferred | |||||||
| Liberal National | 46% | 46% | 47% | 46% | 50.4% | ||
| Labor | 54% | 54% | 53% | 54% | 49.6% |
Q. Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the Federal Budget that was handed down on Tuesday 9th May?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Total Approve | 41% | 32% | 66% | 33% | 31% | |
| Total Disapprove | 33% | 45% | 16% | 39% | 50% | |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 2% | 11% | 4% | 2% | |
| Approve | 36% | 30% | 55% | 29% | 29% | |
| Disapprove | 23% | 30% | 13% | 31% | 30% | |
| Strongly disapprove | 10% | 15% | 3% | 8% | 20% | |
| Don’t know | 25% | 23% | 19% | 29% | 18% |
Overall, more people approved of the budget (41%) than disapproved (33%). Approval for the budget was highest among Liberal/National voters (66% support) and those aged 65+ (57%). Disapproval was highest amongst other party/independent voters (50% disapprove) and ALP voters (45%).
Q. Does this budget make you feel more confident or less confident in the Government’s ability to manage the economy?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | |||
| Total more confident | 27% | 18% | 48% | 20% | 17% | ||
| Total less confident | 29% | 38% | 12% | 33% | 44% | ||
| A lot more confident | 5% | 3% | 9% | 4% | 3% | ||
| A little more confident | 22% | 15% | 39% | 16% | 14% | ||
| Makes no difference | 33% | 34% | 33% | 35% | 35% | ||
| A little less confident | 15% | 18% | 9% | 18% | 20% | ||
| A lot less confident | 14% | 20% | 3% | 15% | 24% | ||
| Don’t know | 12% | 10% | 8% | 11% | 4% |
More people said that the budget made them less confident in the Government’s ability to manage the economy (29%) than said that it made them more confident (27%), although 33% said that it made no difference.
Those most likely to say that the budget made them more confident were Liberal/National voters (48%) and those aged over 65 (40%).
Those most likely to say that the budget made them less confident were other part/independent voters (44%), ALP voters (38%) and those aged 45-54 (36%).
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures contained in the budget?
| Total approve | Total disapprove | Strongly Approve | Approve | Disapprove | Strongly disapprove | Don’t know | |||
| A levy on vacant properties owned by foreign investors | 82% | 7% | 51% | 31% | 5% | 2% | 11% | ||
| Payment reductions for jobseekers who fail to attend Centrelink appointments | 76% | 14% | 43% | 33% | 9% | 5% | 9% | ||
| A levy on businesses who hire foreign workers on permanent and temporary work visas | 71% | 16% | 35% | 36% | 12% | 4% | 14% | ||
| A one-off cash payment for single parents and pensioners to compensate for increased energy prices | 69% | 19% | 27% | 42% | 14% | 5% | 12% | ||
| A trial of drug testing for jobseekers receiving unemployment benefits | 69% | 22% | 42% | 27% | 13% | 9% | 9% | ||
| A levy on big banks which will raise $6.2bn over four years | 66% | 19% | 38% | 28% | 12% | 7% | 14% | ||
| Building a second airport in Sydney at Badgerys Creek | 54% | 18% | 15% | 39% | 13% | 5% | 28% | ||
| A 0.5% increase to the Medicare levy to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme | 49% | 39% | 15% | 34% | 22% | 17% | 13% | ||
All but one measure, the increase to the Medicare levy to fund the NDIS, received majority approval.
The most popular measure was a levy of vacant properties owned by foreign investors (82% approve). Support for this measure was highest among those aged 65+ (94% approve), and lowest among those aged 18-24 (63%).
The least popular measure was the Medicare levy to fund the NDIS, although this still received 49% approval, and only 39% disapproval. Support for this measure was highest among Greens voters (68% approve) and Liberal/National voters (59%), and was lowest among those aged 35-44 (34% disapprove) and ALP voters (42%).
While 54% supported the Badgerys Creek airport, 67% of those living in NSW, where the airport would be located, supported the measure.