Q. In the last 12 months, have you taken any of the following actions to protect your privacy on the internet?
| Total | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | Aug 2015 | |||
| Cleared cookies and browser in history | 73% | 76% | 70% | 74% | 76% | 69% | 77% | ||
| Stopped using a website you think might be using information about you | 54% | 55% | 53% | 58% | 55% | 50% | 54% | ||
| Set your browser to disable or turned off cookies | 46% | 48% | 45% | 50% | 46% | 43% | 51% | ||
| Deleted something you posted in the past | 46% | 45% | 47% | 58% | 46% | 33% | 48% | ||
| Decided not to use a website because they wanted your real name | 42% | 35% | 40% | 49% | 42% | 36% | 43% | ||
| Used a false name or untraceable username | 32% | 35% | 29% | 44% | 32% | 17% | 33% | ||
| Use a non-identifiable email address | 26% | 30% | 21% | 39% | 26% | 11% | 27% | ||
| Used a Virtual Private Network or Tor | 18% | 24% | 12% | 28% | 15% | 10% | 16% |
Note: previous surveys asked if “ever” taken these actions.
Actions most likely to have been taken to protect privacy were clearing cookies and browser in history (73%), stopped using a website that might be using your information (54%) and setting browser to disable or turning off cookies (46%).
There has been little change since this question was last asked in 2015.
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 24/1/17 | Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 32% | 33% | |||
| National | 3% | 3% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 35% | 35% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 37% | 37% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 9% | 10% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 10% | 9% | |||
| Other/Independent | 6% | 6% | 13.1% | ||
| 2 party preferred | |||||
| Liberal National | 46% | 46% | 50.4% | ||
| Labor | 54% | 54% | 49.6% |
NB. Sample = 1,790. 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.
Q. Thinking about our current political and economic system – that is, the structures that set the rules for the way Australian society operates – which of the following best describes your view?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| The system needs to be fundamentally changed | 40% | 44% | 31% | 43% | 52% | |
| The system is fundamentally sound but needs to be refined | 44% | 43% | 52% | 54% | 38% | |
| The system works well as it is and should not be changed in any substantial way | 6% | 3% | 10% | 1% | 5% | |
| Don’t know | 11% | 9% | 7% | 2% | 5% |
44% think Australia’s political and economic system is fundamentally sound but needs to be refined and 40% think the system needs to be fundamentally changed. Only 6% think it should not be changed in any way.
Those most likely to think it needs fundamental change were “other” voters (52%) and those on incomes under $1,000 pw (47%).
Those most likely to think the system just needs to be refined were LNP voters (52%), Greens voters (54%) and incomes over $2,000 pw (52%).
Q. Generally, do you think making Free Trade Agreements with other countries is good for Australia or bad for Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Apr 2014 | |||
| Total good | 47% | 46% | 61% | 39% | 36% | 49% | ||
| Total bad | 15% | 15% | 10% | 24% | 27% | 11% | ||
| Very good | 10% | 10% | 12% | 7% | 8% | 13% | ||
| Good | 37% | 36% | 49% | 32% | 28% | 36% | ||
| Neither good nor bad | 21% | 23% | 17% | 17% | 22% | 18% | ||
| Bad | 11% | 10% | 8% | 18% | 18% | 7% | ||
| Very bad | 4% | 5% | 2% | 6% | 9% | 4% | ||
| Don’t know | 17% | 16% | 12% | 21% | 15% | 22% |
47% think that free trade agreements are generally good for Australia and 15% think they are bad. 21% think they are neither and 17% could not give an opinion. These results are similar to those when this question was last asked in April 2014.
Those most likely to think they were good were Liberal/National voters (61%), full-time workers (52%), incomes over $2,000 pw (55%) and those with university education (54%).
Q. The new US President, Donald Trump, has announced the US will pull out of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement between 12 Asia Pacific countries. Do you think Australia should pull out of the TPP or continue to negotiate an agreement without the US?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Australia should pull out of TPP | 19% | 22% | 15% | 30% | 23% | |
| Australia should negotiate an agreement without US | 52% | 52% | 57% | 53% | 51% | |
| Don’t know | 29% | 25% | 28% | 17% | 26% |
52% think that now that the US has pulled out of the TPP, Australia should continue to negotiate an agreement. 19% think Australia should now pull out of the TPP.
There was very little difference in views across demographics and voter groups.
Q. How much do you think the following benefit from Free Trade agreements with other countries?
| Total some/a lot | A lot of benefit | Some benefit | Little benefit | No benefit | Don’t know | Nov 2014 some/a lot | |||
| The Australian Government | 59% | 20% | 39% | 14% | 5% | 22% | 52% | ||
| Australian businesses overall | 59% | 19% | 40% | 14% | 5% | 22% | 44% | ||
| Mining companies | 58% | 26% | 32% | 12% | 6% | 24% | 48% | ||
| The Australian economy in general | 51% | 13% | 38% | 20% | 7% | 21% | 37% | ||
| Manufacturing firms | 50% | 16% | 34% | 18% | 10% | 23% | 34% | ||
| Tourism operators | 48% | 17% | 31% | 19% | 9% | 25% | 41% | ||
| Farmers | 45% | 16% | 29% | 19% | 13% | 22% | 37% | ||
| Working people | 41% | 11% | 30% | 22% | 16% | 22% | 25% |
A majority think that there are some or a lot of benefit from free trade for the Australian Government (59%), businesses overall (59%), mining companies (58%), the Australian economy in general (51%) and manufacturing companies (50%).
There was least benefit for working people (41% benefit/38% little or no benefit).
There have been substantial increases in perceptions of benefit from free trade for all groups since this question was asked in November 2014.
Q. Do you think the following pay too much tax, not enough tax or about the right amount?
| Pay too much | Don’t pay enough | Pay about right amount | Don’t know | Mar 2015 Pay too much | Mar 2015 Don’t pay enough | Mar 2015 Pay about right amount | Mar 2015 Don’t know | ||
| Large businesses | 6% | 65% | 13% | 16% | 3% | 64% | 14% | 19% | |
| Small businesses | 37% | 8% | 39% | 17% | 41% | 6% | 34% | 19% | |
| People on low incomes | 46% | 7% | 34% | 13% | 47% | 5% | 36% | 13% | |
| People on average incomes | 43% | 6% | 39% | 12% | 43% | 5% | 41% | 11% | |
| People on high incomes | 11% | 59% | 18% | 12% | 10% | 59% | 19% | 12% | |
| You personally | 39% | 5% | 42% | 14% | 36% | 4% | 47% | 13% | |
| Mining companies | 5% | 61% | 13% | 21% | 4% | 67% | 12% | 17% | |
| Retirees on large incomes | 13% | 31% | 31% | 24% | 15% | 29% | 30% | 26% | |
| Large international companies (such as Google and Apple) | 2% | 72% | 9% | 17% | 2% | 73% | 8% | 18% | |
| Religious organisations | 3% | 58% | 18% | 21% | 5% | 53% | 16% | 26% |
From the groups listed, people on low income (46%), people on average incomes (43%), you personally (39%) and small businesses (37%) and were the groups respondents were most likely to think pay too much tax.
More than half of respondents believe that large international companies (72%), large businesses (65%), mining companies (61%), people on high incomes (59%) and religious organisations (58%) do not pay enough tax.
Overall, Labor voters were more likely than Liberal voters to think the following groups pay too much tax – low incomes (Labor 55%/LNP37%) and average incomes (48%/39%).
Labor voters were also more likely to think the following don’t pay enough tax – large businesses (73%/57%), people on high incomes (66%/50%) and mining companies (68%/55%).
Results were very similar to when this question was asked in March 2015.
Q. Do you think that making big multinational corporations pay more tax would be good for the economy because it would increase Government revenue or bad for the economy because these companies would stop investing in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Mar 2015 | |||
| Good for the economy | 60% | 64% | 57% | 75% | 64% | 60% | ||
| Bad for the economy | 11% | 10% | 14% | 4% | 12% | 13% | ||
| Don’t know | 29% | 27% | 29% | 22% | 23% | 27% |
60% think that making big multinational corporations pay more tax would be good for the economy because it would increase Government revenue and 11% think it would be bad for the economy because these companies would stop investing in Australia. These results are much the same when this question was asked in March 2015.
A majority of all voter groups believe it would be good for the economy. 67% of respondents aged 55+ and 66% of those with university degrees think it would be good for the economy.