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 | 5 weeks ago 20/12/16 | Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 33% | 34% | |||
| National | 3% | 2% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 35% | 37% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 37% | 37% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 10% | 10% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 9% | 8% | |||
| Other/Independent | 6% | 6% | 13.1% | ||
| 2 party preferred | |||||
| Liberal National | 46% | 47% | 50.4% | ||
| Labor | 54% | 53% | 49.6% |
Q. Thursday 26th January is Australia Day. Will you personally be doing anything to celebrate Australia Day or do you treat it as just a public holiday?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Jan 2010 | Jan 2013 | Jan 2014 | Jan 2015 | Jan 2016 | |||
| Doing something to celebrate Australia Day | 34% | 35% | 38% | 26% | 33% | 40% | 41% | 37% | 40% | 38% | ||
| Just a public holiday | 46% | 46% | 47% | 59% | 44% | 40% | 43% | 44% | 41% | 44% | ||
| Working – don’t get the Australia Day holiday | 5% | 5% | 2% | 55 | 8% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | ||
| Don’t know | 15% | 14% | 13% | 11% | 16% | 14% | 9% | 11% | 12% | 12% |
34% said they will be doing something to celebrate Australia Day, 46% treat Australia Day as just a public holiday and 5% are working because they don’t get the Australia Day holiday. This is the lowest proportion celebrating Australia Day over the last 7 years.
38% of Liberal/National voters and 41% of those with children say they will be doing something to celebrate Australia Day. 59% of Greens treat it as just another public holiday.
Q. Which of the following best describes how you feel about Australia Day?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | Jan 2016 | ||||
| A day of national pride | 60% | 61% | 73% | 26% | 65% | 55% | 60% | 65% | 56% | |||
| A day of reflection on the impact on indigenous people | 12% | 12% | 4% | 46% | 9% | 15% | 14% | 8% | 14% | |||
| It’s irrelevant in the 21st century | 7% | 5% | 85 | 6% | 12% | 6% | 7% | 9% | 8% | |||
| None of these | 15% | 16% | 11% | 17% | 13% | 14% | 14% | 16% | 16% | |||
| Don’t know | 6% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 10% | 5% | 2% | 6% |
60% regard Australia Day as a day of national pride and 12% think it is a day of reflection on the impact on indigenous people. Only 7% think it is irrelevant.
Those most likely to regard it as a day of national pride were Liberal/National voters (73%) and aged 55+ (65%). 46% of Greens voters think it is a day of reflection on the impact on indigenous people.
Q. Would you support or oppose Australia becoming a republic with an Australian head of state?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Total support | 44% | 50% | 41% | 52% | 43% | |
| Total oppose | 30% | 24% | 41% | 18% | 38% | |
| Strongly support | 21% | 29% | 14% | 30% | 23% | |
| Support | 23% | 21% | 27% | 22% | 20% | |
| Oppose | 18% | 14% | 27% | 12% | 20% | |
| Strongly oppose | 12% | 10% | 14% | 6% | 18% | |
| No opinion | 26% | 26% | 18% | 31% | 19% |
44% support Australia becoming a republic with an Australian head of state and 30% oppose. 26% have no opinion.
Those most likely to support were Labor voters (50%), Greens voters (52%), men (53%) and university educated (52%).
Those most likely to oppose were Liberal/National voters (41%) and aged 65+ (44%).
Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations?
| Total
trust |
A lot of trust | Some trust | A little trust | No trust | Don’t know | % change | Total trust Jun 12 | Total trust Mar 13 | Total trust Jul 14 | Total trust Oct 15 | Total trust Sep 16 | |||
| Federal police | 69% | 29% | 40% | 19% | 7% | 5% | +6 | – | – | – | 67% | 63% | ||
| State police | 67% | 25% | 42% | 23% | 6% | 4% | +4 | – | – | – | 68% | 63% | ||
| The High Court | 62% | 23% | 39% | 23% | 8% | 6% | +5 | 60% | 74% | 57% | 60% | 57% | ||
| The ABC | 53% | 15% | 38% | 26% | 12% | 9% | – | 54% | 70% | 54% | 55% | 53% | ||
| The Reserve Bank | 51% | 15% | 36% | 31% | 10% | 8% | +4 | 49% | 64% | 52% | 51% | 47% | ||
| Charitable organisations | 45% | 8% | 37% | 36% | 14% | 5% | +2 | 50% | 52% | 45% | 49% | 43% | ||
| Environment groups | 39% | 8% | 31% | 34% | 21% | 7% | – | 32% | 41% | 31% | 42% | 39% | ||
| Your local council | 38% | 5% | 33% | 37% | 19% | 5% | +2 | – | 34% | 33% | 40% | 36% | ||
| The Commonwealth Public Service | 36% | 5% | 31% | 37% | 16% | 10% | – | 30% | 36% | 31% | 38% | 36% | ||
| State Parliament | 31% | 5% | 26% | 32% | 31% | 6% | +5 | – | 30% | 24% | 32% | 26% | ||
| Federal Parliament | 30% | 5% | 25% | 32% | 33% | 6% | +4 | 22% | 34% | 25% | 32% | 26% | ||
| Religious organisations | 28% | 5% | 23% | 27% | 38% | 6% | +2 | 27% | 27% | 26% | 30% | 26% | ||
| Trade unions | 27% | 5% | 22% | 30% | 34% | 9% | +2 | 22% | 25% | 22% | 27% | 25% | ||
| Business groups | 27% | 3% | 24% | 44% | 23% | 7% | – | 22% | 26% | 22% | 30% | 27% | ||
| Political parties | 17% | 3% | 14% | 34% | 44% | 6% | +3 | 12% | 12% | 13% | 16% | 14% |
Note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’
Overall, trust in institutions has increased a little since this question was asked last September.
Respondents had most trust in the Federal police (69%), State police (67%), the High Court (62%), the ABC (53%) and the Reserve Bank (51%). They had least trust in political parties (17%), business groups (27%), trade unions (27%) and religious organisations (28%).
The main changes since the last poll were for Federal Police (up 6%), the High Courts (up 5%) and State Parliament (up 5%).
Q. Centrelink is currently conducting a debt recovery program in which welfare recipients are being automatically sent notifications regarding possible over payments. From what you have read or heard do you approve of disapprove of the way this program has been conducted?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Total approve | 36% | 34% | 49% | 24% | 30% | |
| Total disapprove | 48% | 53% | 38% | 63% | 58% | |
| Strongly approve | 13% | 11% | 20% | 8% | 13% | |
| Approve | 23% | 23% | 29% | 16% | 17% | |
| Disapprove | 19% | 17% | 19% | 16% | 24% | |
| Strongly disapprove | 29% | 36% | 19% | 47% | 34% | |
| No opinion | 16% | 13% | 13% | 12% | 12% |
36% approve of the way the Centrelink debt recovery program has been conducted and 48% disapprove.
Those most likely to approve were Liberal/National voters (49%), men (43%), full-time workers (45%) and those earning over $2,000 a week (45%).
Those most likely to disapprove were Greens voters (63%), aged 65+ (61%), people not working (58%) and those earning less than $600 a week (60%).
Q. Which of the following issues are you more concerned about – over payments to welfare recipients or how politicians use their travel expenses?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Over payments to welfare recipients | 8% | 5% | 14% | 10% | 7% | |
| Politicians travel expenses | 46% | 52% | 35% | 60% | 50% | |
| Both equally | 40% | 38% | 48% | 29% | 40% | |
| Neither | 2% | 3% | 1% | – | 1% | |
| Don’t know | 4% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
46% are more concerned about how politicians use their travel expenses than over payments to welfare recipients and 40% are equally concerned about both. Only 8% are more concerned about over payments to welfare recipients.
Those most concerned about how politicians use their travel expenses were Labor voters (52%), Greens voters (60%) and aged 18-34 (51%).
Q. Which of the following political expenses should politicians be reimbursed for?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Aug 2015 | |||
| Travel for events directly related to their electoral or parliamentary work (unlimited if work related) | 68% | 68% | 78% | 69% | 67% | 64% | ||
| Printing of materials to inform their electorate | 54% | 57% | 60% | 51% | 50% | 62% | ||
| Overseas study trips (a limited number per year) | 35% | 35% | 45% | 36% | 32% | 34% | ||
| Publications allowance (for books and magazines) | 34% | 35% | 37% | 36% | 33% | 38% | ||
| Free use of a taxpayer funded car | 22% | 21% | 31% | 19% | 19% | 29% | ||
| An electorate allowance that covers the cost of serving the electorate, which MP’s can keep if it is not spent | 20% | 19% | 23% | 19% | 24% | 21% | ||
| An allowance for nights spent in Canberra, regardless of where the MP stays | 19% | 19% | 23% | 17% | 22% | 26% | ||
| Social events for networking purposes | 18% | 205 | 21% | 11% | 16% | 17% | ||
| Travel for politicians families to visit them in Canberra or interstate when they are on Government business | 15% | 15% | 18% | 14% | 15% | 16% | ||
| Travel for politicians spouses to accompany them on overseas trips | 13% | 13% | 20% | 13% | 6% | 15% |
More than half approve of reimbursing politicians for travel for events directly related to their electoral or parliamentary work (68%) and printing of materials to inform their electorate (54%). A substantial minority also approve a publications allowance (34%) and limited overseas study trips (35%).
Very few supported funding for travel for spouses to accompany them on overseas trips (13%) or family travel within Australia (15%).
Since this question was asked in August 2015, support has fallen for printing of materials (down 8%), taxpayer funded car (down 7%) and allowance for spending nights in Canberra (down 7%).