Q. In general, do you think the Federal Budget, will be good or bad for?
| Total good | Total bad | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | ||
| People who are well off | 51% | 5% | 22% | 29% | 30% | 4% | 1% | 14% | |
| Australian business | 45% | 8% | 9% | 36% | 32% | 7% | 1% | 16% | |
| The economy overall | 38% | 17% | 6% | 32% | 31% | 13% | 4% | 14% | |
| First home-buyers | 31% | 18% | 5% | 26% | 36% | 10% | 8% | 14% | |
| Australian families | 25% | 32% | 3% | 22% | 31% | 24% | 8% | 12% | |
| Older Australians | 25% | 30% | 3% | 22% | 31% | 21% | 9% | 14% | |
| Job seekers | 23% | 30% | 4% | 19% | 34% | 20% | 10% | 12% | |
| Average working people | 22% | 36% | 3% | 19% | 30% | 25% | 11% | 12% | |
| Primary/secondary students | 21% | 24% | 3% | 18% | 39% | 17% | 7% | 16% | |
| People on lower incomes | 20% | 41% | 4% | 16% | 27% | 24% | 17% | 12% | |
| You personally | 18% | 32% | 4% | 14% | 39% | 21% | 11% | 11% | |
| University students | 12% | 49% | 3% | 9% | 26% | 30% | 19% | 13% |
51% thought that the budget would be good for people who are well off. Only 43% of Liberal/National voters thought this, compared to 67% of Greens voters and 63% of ALP voters.
Only 12% thought that the budget would be good for University students. 22% of Liberal/National voters thought the budget would be good for University students, compared to 6% of ALP voters and 8% of Greens voters.
Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the Federal budget that was handed down on Tuesday 9th May?
| Total agree | Total disagree | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | |||
| This budget is more about improving the Government’s popularity than improving the economy | 51% | 27% | 19% | 32% | 23% | 4% | 21% | ||
| This budget favours businesses over workers | 48% | 28% | 16% | 32% | 24% | 4% | 24% | ||
| Overall, the budget is fair and balanced | 43% | 38% | 6% | 37% | 27% | 11% | 19% | ||
| This budget does not do enough to reduce the deficit | 41% | 31% | 10% | 31% | 27% | 4% | 27% | ||
| This was the budget Australia needs at this time | 39% | 36% | 8% | 31% | 26% | 10% | 25% | ||
More people agreed than disagreed with each statement about the budget.
The most widely agreed with statement was that the budget is more about improving the Government’s popularity than improving the economy (51% agree). 66% of ALP voters agreed with this statement, as did 64% of other party/independent voters, compared to 37% of Liberal/National voters.
The least widely agreed with statement was that this was the budget Australia needs at this time, with 39% agreement. 43% of men agreed with this statement, compared to only 34% of women. 51% of those aged 65+ agreed, compared to 38% of those aged 18-24.
Q. Who would you trust most to handle Australia’s economy – the Treasurer Scott Morrison or the Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Scott Morrison | 26% | 8% | 57% | 7% | 18% | |
| Chris Bowen | 22% | 43% | 5% | 31% | 20% | |
| Don’t know | 52% | 49% | 37% | 62% | 61% |
26% trusted Scott Morrison to handle the economy, and 22% trusted Chris Bowen. 52% did not know who they trusted more.
Scott Morrison was most favoured by Liberal/National voters (57%) and those aged 65+ (45%). Chris Bowen was most favoured by ALP voters (43%).
64% of women said that they did not know who they trusted more, compared to 40% of men.
Q. The federal budget includes a 0.5% increase to the Medicare levy for all taxpayers in order to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Do you think that this is the right approach, or that high income earners should bear a greater share of the cost of funding the NDIS?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Higher income earners should bear a greater share of the cost | 56% | 69% | 44% | 58% | 62% | |
| Increasing the Medicare levy for all taxpayers is the right approach | 27% | 15% | 45% | 23% | 20% | |
| Don’t know | 17% | 16% | 11% | 19% | 17% |
56% thought that higher income earners should bear a greater share of the cost of funding the NDIS. Those most likely to think this were ALP voters (69%), those earning between $78k and $104k per year (63%), and other party/independent voters (62%).
Those who thought that increasing the Medicare levy was the right approach were Liberal/National voters (45%), those aged 65+ (35%) and those earning over $104k per year (34%).
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 2/5/17 | 2 weeks ago 25/4/17 | 4 weeks ago 11/4/17 | Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 35% | 35% | 34% | 35% | |||
| National | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 37% | 38% | 37% | 37% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 38% | 37% | 36% | 36% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 10% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 6% | 7% | 8% | 8% | |||
| Other/Independent | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 13.1% | ||
| 2 party preferred | |||||||
| Liberal National | 46% | 47% | 47% | 47% | 50.4% | ||
| Labor | 54% | 53% | 53% | 53% | 49.6% |
Sample = 1,795. 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.
malcolm turnbull, Prime Minister
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 | Apr 2017 | Mar 2017 | Feb 2017 | Jan 2017 | Dec 2016 | June 2016 | Dec 2015 | |||
| Total Approve | 37% | 18% | 75% | 17% | 20% | 35% | 33% | 34% | 37% | 34% | 38% | 56% | ||
| Total Disapprove | 48% | 70% | 17% | 72% | 69% | 47% | 50% | 49% | 48% | 46% | 40% | 23% | ||
| Strongly approve | 5% | 2% | 11% | – | 2% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 13% | ||
| Approve | 32% | 16% | 64% | 17% | 18% | 30% | 28% | 29% | 31% | 29% | 32% | 43% | ||
| Disapprove | 29% | 42% | 15% | 37% | 40% | 29% | 30% | 28% | 30% | 30% | 24% | 16% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 19% | 28% | 2% | 35% | 29% | 18% | 20% | 21% | 18% | 16% | 16% | 7% | ||
| Don’t know | 15% | 12% | 8% | 12% | 10% | 17% | 18% | 16% | 16% | 20% | 21% | 21% |
37% approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister (up 2% from last month), and 48% disapproved (up 1% from last month).
75% of Liberal/National voters approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing, compared to 18% of ALP voters and 17% of Greens voters.
Bill Shorten, Opposition leader
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 | Apr 2017 | Mar 2017 | Feb 2017 | Jan 2017 | Dec 2016 | Dec 2015 | Dec 2014 | |||
| Total Approve | 34% | 62% | 20% | 33% | 21% | 33% | 30% | 30% | 37% | 35% | 27% | 35% | ||
| Total Disapprove | 45% | 18% | 68% | 46% | 64% | 46% | 49% | 47% | 44% | 38% | 47% | 39% | ||
| Strongly approve | 6% | 14% | 2% | 6% | 1% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 7% | 6% | 4% | 7% | ||
| Approve | 28% | 48% | 18% | 27% | 20% | 28% | 26% | 25% | 30% | 29% | 23% | 28% | ||
| Disapprove | 26% | 15% | 33% | 37% | 33% | 26% | 26% | 27% | 25% | 21% | 26% | 23% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 19% | 3% | 35% | 9% | 31% | 20% | 23% | 20% | 19% | 17% | 21% | 16% | ||
| Don’t know | 22% | 20% | 12% | 21% | 15% | 22% | 22% | 22% | 20% | 25% | 25% | 26% |
34% approved of the job Bill Shorten is doing as Prime Minister (up 1% from last month), and 45% disapproved (down 1%).
62% of ALP voters approved of the job Bill Shorten is doing, compared to 33% of Greens voters and 20% of Liberal/National voters.
Bill Shorten, malcolm turnbull, Prime Minister
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 | Apr 2017 | Mar 2017 | Feb 2017 | Jan 2017 | Dec 2016 | Jun 2016 | Dec 2015 | Dec 2014 | |||
| Malcolm Turnbull | 39% | 11% | 85% | 12% | 34% | 39% | 38% | 39% | 39% | 39% | 40% | 54% | 54% | ||
| Bill Shorten | 31% | 61% | 4% | 59% | 17% | 28% | 26% | 25% | 28% | 28% | 29% | 15% | 15% | ||
| Don’t know | 30% | 27% | 11% | 30% | 49% | 32% | 36% | 36% | 33% | 33% | 32% | 31% | 31% |
39% thought that Malcolm Turnbull would make a better Prime Minister (unchanged from last month), and 31% thought Bill Shorten would be better (up 3%).
The results were split by party, with 85% of Liberal/National voters saying that Malcolm Turnbull would be a better Prime Minister, and 61% of ALP voters saying the Bill Shorten would.
Greens voters preferred Bill Shorten (59% preferred) to Turnbull (12%).