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 | Dec 2015 | Mar 2016 | Jun 2016 | Sep 2016 | Dec 2016 | Jan 2017 | Feb 2107 | |||
| Total approve | 33% | 24% | 67% | 17% | 17% | 56% | 45% | 38% | 35% | 34% | 37% | 34% | ||
| Total disapprove | 50% | 66% | 21% | 70% | 66% | 23% | 35% | 40% | 43% | 46% | 48% | 49% | ||
| Strongly approve | 5% | 4% | 12% | 2% | 1% | 13% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 5% | ||
| Approve | 28% | 20% | 55% | 15% | 16% | 43% | 39% | 32% | 31% | 29% | 31% | 29% | ||
| Disapprove | 30% | 37% | 19% | 42% | 36% | 16% | 24% | 24% | 27% | 30% | 30% | 28% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 20% | 29% | 2% | 28% | 30% | 7% | 11% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 18% | 21% | ||
| Don’t know | 18% | 10% | 12% | 14% | 17% | 21% | 21% | 21% | 22% | 20% | 16% | 16% |
33% (down 1% from 4 weeks ago) of respondents approve of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister and 50% (up 1%) disapprove – a change in net approval rating from -15 to -17. This is Malcolm Turnbull’s worst net rating as Prime Minister.
67% (down 3%) of Liberal/National voters approve of Malcolm Turnbull’s performance with 21% (up 2%) disapproving. 24% (up 9%) of Labor voters and 17% (down 2%) of Greens voters approve of Malcolm Turnbull’s performance.
By gender, men were 36% approve/52% disapprove and women 30% approve/47% 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 | Nov 2013 | Dec 2014 | Dec 2015 | Mar 2016 | Jun 2016 | Sep 2016 | Dec 2016 | Jan 2017 | Feb 2017 | |||
| Total approve | 30% | 60% | 17% | 29% | 13% | 31% | 35% | 27% | 27% | 34% | 36% | 35% | 37% | 30% | ||
| Total disapprove | 49% | 23% | 71% | 45% | 68% | 27% | 39% | 47% | 47% | 40% | 41% | 38% | 44% | 47% | ||
| Strongly approve | 4% | 11% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 5% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 5% | ||
| Approve | 26% | 49% | 16% | 27% | 12% | 26% | 28% | 23% | 24% | 27% | 30% | 29% | 30% | 25% | ||
| Disapprove | 26% | 18% | 31% | 37% | 27% | 17% | 23% | 26% | 29% | 22% | 24% | 21% | 25% | 27% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 23% | 5% | 40% | 8% | 41% | 10% | 16% | 21% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 20% | ||
| Don’t know | 22% | 18% | 12% | 26% | 18% | 43% | 26% | 25% | 26% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 20% | 22% |
30% (no change in last 4 weeks) of respondents approve of the job Bill Shorten is doing as opposition leader and 49% (up 2%) disapprove – a change in his net rating from -17 to -19. This is Bill Shorten’s worst net rating since March 2016.
60% (down 3%) of Labor voters approve of the job Bill Shorten is doing and 23% (up 7%) disapprove.
35% of men and 25% of women approve of Bill Shorten. 50% of men and 46% of women 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 | Sep 2015 | Dec 2015 | Mar 2016 | Jun 2016 | Sep 2016 | Dec 2016 | Jan 2017 | Feb 2017 | |||
| Malcolm Turnbull | 38% | 16% | 84% | 12% | 32% | 53% | 54% | 48% | 40% | 41% | 39% | 39% | 39% | ||
| Bill Shorten | 26% | 54% | 6% | 41% | 15% | 17% | 15% | 19% | 29% | 26% | 28% | 28% | 25% | ||
| Don’t know | 36% | 30% | 10% | 47% | 53% | 30% | 31% | 33% | 32% | 33% | 33% | 33% | 36% |
38% (down 1% in last 4weeks) of respondents think Malcolm Turnbull would make the better Prime Minister and 26% (up 1%) think Bill Shorten would make the better Prime Minister.
41% of men prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 31% prefer Bill Shorten.
34% of women prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 22% prefer Bill Shorten.
Q. Would you support or oppose the following tax reforms to pay off debt and raise more funds for Government services and infrastructure?
| Total support | Total oppose | Strongly support | Support | Oppose | Strongly oppose | Don’t know | Support Jul 2015 | Support Apr 2016 | ||||
| Stop companies and wealthy people using legal loopholes in minimise tax payments by sending funds offshore | 85% | 6% | 62% | 23% | 3% | 3% | 8% | na | 86% | |||
| Force multinational companies to pay a minimum tax rate on Australian earnings | 79% | 8% | 50% | 29% | 5% | 3% | 13% | 79% | 80% | |||
| Introduce the “Buffett Rule” – which means that very high earners cannot reduce their income tax rate below 30%. | 71% | 11% | 40% | 31% | 8% | 3% | 18% | na | na | |||
| Increase income tax rate for high earners | 64% | 21% | 31% | 33% | 14% | 7% | 15% | 63% | 65% | |||
| Remove superannuation tax concessions for high earners | 58% | 27% | 29% | 29% | 15% | 12% | 16% | 59% | 62% | |||
| Remove negative gearing | 41% | 30% | 18% | 23% | 19% | 11% | 28% | 37% | 39% | |||
| Remove GST exemptions (e.g. on food, education) | 39% | 48% | 13% | 26% | 24% | 24% | 12% | 33% | 37% | |||
| Replace stamp duty with land tax | 27% | 31% | 8% | 19% | 18% | 13% | 42% | 26% | 33% | |||
| Increase the GST | 26% | 63% | 6% | 20% | 29% | 34% | 11% | 24% | 27% | |||
There was strong majority support for stopping companies and wealthy people using legal loopholes in minimise tax payments by sending funds offshore (85%), forcing multinational companies to pay a minimum tax rate on Australian earnings (79%), introducing the “Buffett Rule” (71%) and increasing income tax rate for high earners (64%).
There was strong majority opposition to increasing the GST (63%).
There has been little change in these figures since this question was previously asked in April last year.
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the $50 billion in tax cuts for medium and large businesses announced in the Federal budget?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Jun 2016 | |||
| Total approve | 24% | 19% | 41% | 12% | 20% | 28% | ||
| Total disapprove | 46% | 59% | 27% | 63% | 55% | 45% | ||
| Strongly approve | 5% | 3% | 10% | 1% | 2% | 6% | ||
| Approve | 19% | 16% | 31% | 11% | 18% | 22% | ||
| Disapprove | 26% | 30% | 21% | 38% | 27% | 23% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 20% | 29% | 6% | 25% | 28% | 22% | ||
| Don’t know | 30% | 22% | 32% | 25% | 25% | 27% |
24% approve of the tax cuts for medium and large business announced in the Federal budget and 46% disapprove. This represents a 4% drop in approval since this question was previously asked in June last year.
Those most likely to disapprove were Greens voters (63%), Labor voters (59%) and aged 65+ (61%).
Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Cutting the company tax rate will bring Australia’s tax base into line with other nations and attract the investment we need to create more jobs. | 25% | 21% | 44% | 5% | 20% | |
| Cutting the company tax rate will simply deliver business $50 billion more in profits – money that should be invested in schools, hospitals and other vital services. | 43% | 57% | 25% | 65% | 49% | |
| Not sure | 31% | 22% | 31% | 30% | 31% |
43% agree more with the statement that cutting the company tax rate will simply deliver businesses more in profits while 25% agree more that cutting the company tax rate will attract investment and deliver jobs.
Those most likely to think it will simply deliver business profits were Greens voters (65%), Labor voters (57%) and aged 65+ (50%).
Q. How much trust do you have in what you read or hear in the following media?
| Total a lot /some
trust |
A lot of trust | Some trust | Not much trust | No trust at all | Don’t know | Don’t use | Total a lot /someNov 14 | Total a lot /some
Jun 15 |
Total a lot /some
Feb 16 |
|||
| ABC TV news and current affairs | 59% | 17% | 42% | 17% | 10% | 4% | 11% | 69% | 63% | 66% | ||
| SBS TV news and current affairs | 59% | 15% | 44% | 17% | 8% | 4% | 14% | 66% | 61% | 63% | ||
| ABC radio news and current affairs | 56% | 15% | 41% | 17% | 9% | 3% | 15% | 62% | 58% | 62% | ||
| ABC radio talkback programs | 45% | 9% | 36% | 22% | 12% | 5% | 18% | 48% | 46% | 49% | ||
| News and opinion in local newspapers | 45% | 3% | 42% | 31% | 12% | 4% | 9% | 53% | 50% | 49% | ||
| News and opinion in daily newspapers | 42% | 4% | 38% | 31% | 14% | 5% | 9% | 50% | 45% | 49% | ||
| Commercial TV news and current affairs | 42% | 5% | 37% | 31% | 17% | 4% | 5% | 48% | 46% | 48% | ||
| Commercial radio news and current affairs | 40% | 4% | 36% | 30% | 15% | 4% | 10% | 45% | 44% | 46% | ||
| News and opinion websites | 36% | 4% | 32% | 34% | 15% | 4% | 11% | 42% | 39% | 44% | ||
| Commercial radio talkback programs | 34% | 4% | 30% | 26% | 20% | 4% | 15% | 33% | 34% | 34% | ||
| Internet blogs | 19% | 3% | 16% | 34% | 27% | 5% | 16% | 22% | 20% | 23% |
Overall, trust in media has declined since this question was asked last year – however rankings remain much the same.
The most trusted media were ABC TV news and current affairs (59% a lot/some trust), SBS TV news and current affairs (59%) and ABC radio news and current affairs (56%).
The least trusted were internet blogs (19%) and commercial radio talkback programs (34%).
The main changes since February last year have been for news and opinion websites (down 8%), ABC TV news and current affairs (down 7%) and news and opinion in daily newspapers (down 7%).
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 28/2/17 | 2 weeks ago 21/2/17 | 4 weeks ago 7/2/17 | Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 34% | 34% | 33% | 33% | |||
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 37% | 37% | 36% | 36% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 37% | 37% | 34% | 37% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 9% | 9% | 10% | 8% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | 4% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 9% | 9% | 10% | 10% | |||
| Other/Independent | 5% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 13.1% | ||
| 2 party preferred | |||||||
| Liberal National | 47% | 47% | 48% | 47% | 50.4% | ||
| Labor | 53% | 53% | 52% | 53% | 49.6% |
NB. Sample = 1,786. 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.