Q. Do you think the Greens are becoming more progressive or more conservative?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| More progressive | 21% | 24% | 16% | 48% | 21% | |
| More conservative | 15% | 17% | 17% | 15% | 17% | |
| Neither | 36% | 37% | 44% | 25% | 37% | |
| Don’t know | 28% | 23% | 24% | 13% | 24% |
21% think the Greens are becoming more progressive and 15% think they are becoming more conservative. 36% think they are neither.
Among Greens voters, 15% think they are becoming more conservative and 48% more progressive.
There were no major differences across age groups.
Q. If a new conservative party was formed and included people like Tony Abbott, how likely would you be to vote for them?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Dec 2015 | |||
| Total likely | 23% | 13% | 41% | 11% | 25% | 20% | ||
| Total unlikely | 58% | 74% | 41% | 80% | 63% | 65% | ||
| Very likely | 7% | 4% | 11% | 2% | 13% | 9% | ||
| Somewhat likely | 16% | 9% | 30% | 9% | 11% | 11% | ||
| Not very likely | 16% | 16% | 20% | 12% | 17% | 16% | ||
| Not at all likely | 42% | 58% | 21% | 68% | 46% | 49% | ||
| Don’t know | 19% | 14% | 19% | 9% | 13% | 15% |
23% say they would be very or somewhat likely to vote for a new conservative party and 58% would be not very or not at all likely.
41% of Liberal/National voters and 32% of those aged 65+ say they would be likely to vote for a new conservative party.
Compared to 12 months ago, likelihood of voting for a new conservative party has increased a little.
Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements about voting?
| Q | Total agree | Total disagree | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | |
| Each election I decide on which party is offering me the most | 66% | 23% | 16% | 50% | 15% | 8% | 10% | |
| I always vote for the same party at every election | 46% | 47% | 13% | 33% | 37% | 10% | 7% | |
| I’m more likely to vote for an independent or minor party than I used to be | 43% | 44% | 10% | 33% | 28% | 16% | 13% | |
| I am less likely to vote for the same party every election than I was in the past | 41% | 43% | 7% | 34% | 31% | 12% | 16% | |
| I don’t look at the party, I look at the individual candidate | 39% | 52% | 7% | 32% | 39% | 13% | 9% | |
| I usually vote for an independent or minor party | 20% | 67% | 4% | 16% | 44% | 23% | 13% |
| Q | Total agree | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | |
| Each election I decide on which party is offering me the most | 66% | 70% | 63% | 73% | 79% | |
| I always vote for the same party at every election | 46% | 57% | 57% | 40% | 19% | |
| I’m more likely to vote for an independent or minor party than I used to be | 43% | 40% | 36% | 62% | 71% | |
| I am less likely to vote for the same party every election than I was in the past | 41% | 38% | 40% | 50% | 61% | |
| I don’t look at the party, I look at the individual candidate | 39% | 34% | 40% | 48% | 47% | |
| I usually vote for an independent or minor party | 20% | 15% | 13% | 52% | 36% |
A majority (66%) agree they vote according to “which party is offering me the most”. 71% of women agree compared to 62% of men.
46% agree they always vote for the same party – including 57% of Labor and Liberal/National voters.
43% agree they are more likely to vote for an independent or minor party than they used to be. Although 71% of independent/other party voters agree, only 36% say they usually vote for an independent or minor party.
41% agree they are less likely to vote for the same party – including 61% of other/independent voters.
Q. Would you approve or disapprove of the following actions to increase the wages of Australian workers?
| Q | Total approve | Total dis-approve | Strongly approve | Approve | Dis-approve | Strongly dis-approve | Don’t know | |
| Increasing the minimum wage | 80% | 11% | 28% | 52% | 9% | 2% | 9% | |
| Cutting personal income taxes | 71% | 17% | 25% | 46% | 14% | 3% | 12% | |
| Reducing the number of foreign workers on 457 visas | 70% | 13% | 36% | 34% | 11% | 2% | 17% | |
| Stronger regulation of labor hire companies | 69% | 8% | 24% | 45% | 6% | 2% | 22% | |
| Cutting company taxes so that business invest and give workers pay rises | 61% | 24% | 16% | 45% | 15% | 9% | 15% | |
| Giving more power to unions to negotiate pay rises | 43% | 41% | 13% | 30% | 22% | 19% | 16% |
| Q | Total approve | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Work full time | Work part time | ||
| Increasing the minimum wage | 80% | 88% | 76% | 82% | 86% | 76% | 83% | ||
| Cutting personal income taxes | 71% | 74% | 74% | 61% | 72% | 78% | 62% | ||
| Reducing the number of foreign workers on 457 visas | 70% | 75% | 74% | 53% | 80% | 70% | 62% | ||
| Stronger regulation of labor hire companies | 69% | 74% | 72% | 67% | 79% | 72% | 65% | ||
| Cutting company taxes so that business invest and give workers pay rises | 61% | 55% | 72% | 51% | 65% | 64% | 61% | ||
| Giving more power to unions to negotiate pay rises | 43% | 63% | 24% | 53% | 39% | 45% | 40% |
There was substantial majority agreement with all suggested actions to increase wages – except giving more power to unions to negotiate pay rises (43% approve, 41% disapprove). This was mainly due to strong disapproval from Liberal/National voters (24% approve/64% disapprove).
80% approved of increasing the minimum wage, including at least three-quarters of all voter groups.
There were similar levels of approval of cutting personal income taxes (71%), reducing the number of workers on 457 visas (70%) and stronger regulation of labor hire companies (69%).
Cutting personal income taxes was more favoured by fulltime workers (78%) than part time workers (62%).
83% of part time workers approved increasing the minimum wage.
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
29/11/16 |
2 weeks ago
22/11/16 |
4 weeks ago
8/11/16 |
Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 35% | 36% | 36% | 35% | |||
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 38% | 39% | 38% | 38% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 36% | 36% | 37% | 37% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 9% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 8% | 7% | 6% | 6% | |||
| Other/Independent | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 13.1% | ||
| 2 party preferred | |||||||
| Liberal National | 48% | 49% | 48% | 47% | 50.4% | ||
| Labor | 52% | 51% | 52% | 53% | 49.6% |
NB. Sample = 1,833 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. Which party would you trust most to handle the following issues?
| Liberal | Labor | Don’t know | NET | NET
Aug 2016 |
||
| Security and the war on terrorism | 39% | 22% | 39% | +17 | +18 | |
| Management of the economy | 41% | 27% | 32% | +14 | +15 | |
| Controlling interest rates | 33% | 26% | 41% | +7 | +12 | |
| Managing population growth | 32% | 25% | 42% | +7 | +10 | |
| Treatment of asylum seekers | 34% | 28% | 39% | +6 | +6 | |
| Political leadership | 33% | 27% | 40% | +6 | +9 | |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 32% | 33% | 35% | -1 | -4 | |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 27% | 30% | 43% | -3 | – | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 30% | 37% | 33% | -7 | -8 | |
| Protecting Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 28% | 37% | 35% | -9 | -8 | |
| Housing affordability | 25% | 34% | 40% | -9 | -10 | |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 28% | 39% | 33% | -11 | -8 | |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 28% | 40% | 32% | -12 | -8 | |
| Addressing climate change | 23% | 37% | 40% | -14 | -10 | |
| Protecting the environment | 23% | 37% | 40% | -14 | -11 |
The Liberal Party is trusted more to handle security and the war on terrorism (+17) and management of the economy (+14).
The Labor Party is trusted more to handle protecting the environment (-14), addressing climate change (-14), the health system (-12) and education (-11).
Since this question was asked in August, the Labor Party has improved its position against the Liberal Party on controlling interest rates (up 5), climate change (up 4) and the health system (up 4).
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – do you think is best when it comes to:
| Liberal | Labor | No Diff-erence | Don’t Know | Diff-erence Liberal – Labor | Mar 2016 diff-erence | ||
| Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests | 48% | 15% | 22% | 15% | +33 | +37 | |
| Handling the economy overall | 35% | 24% | 25% | 16% | +11 | +13 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business | 33% | 24% | 25% | 18% | +9 | +13 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class | 30% | 30% | 24% | 15% | – | +3 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that helps you and people like you the most. | 28% | 30% | 25% | 17% | -2 | -4 | |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you | 27% | 35% | 23% | 15% | -8 | -6 | |
| Standing up for the middle class in Australia | 26% | 34% | 24% | 15% | -8 | -7 | |
| Handling the economy in a way that tries to take the interests of working families into consideration as much as it takes the interests of the large corporate and financial groups | 24% | 33% | 25% | 17% | -9 | -7 | |
| Representing the interests of Australian working families | 20% | 42% | 23% | 14% | -22 | -21 | |
| Being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests | 18% | 43% | 24% | 14% | -25 | -22 |
Labor was more likely to be selected as the party best at all of the items, except for ‘Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests’ (48% Liberal, 15% Labor), ‘Handling the economy overall’ (35% Liberal, 24% Labor), ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business’ (33% Liberal, 24% Labor) and ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class’ (30% Liberal, 30% Labor).
Since this question was asked in March, the main shifts have been for ‘Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business’ (4% to Labor) and “Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests” (4% to Labor).
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job the following people are doing as Government Ministers?
| Total approve | Total dis-approve | Strongly approve | Approve | Dis-approve | Strongly dis-approve | Don’t know | Net score | Net LNP voters | |||
| Julie Bishop – Foreign Affairs | 52% | 23% | 18% | 34% | 12% | 11% | 25% | +29 | +66 | ||
| Christopher Pyne – Defence Industry | 35% | 34% | 7% | 28% | 16% | 18% | 32% | +1 | +55 | ||
| Barnaby Joyce – Deputy Prime Minister | 34% | 33% | 7% | 27% | 18% | 15% | 33% | +1 | +48 | ||
| Greg Hunt – Industry, Innovation and Science | 28% | 27% | 5% | 23% | 14% | 13% | 46% | +1 | +43 | ||
| Peter Dutton – Immigration and Border Protection | 33% | 35% | 11% | 21% | 15% | 20% | 32% | -2 | +47 | ||
| Scott Morrison – Treasurer | 33% | 36% | 6% | 27% | 18% | 18% | 31% | -3 | +50 | ||
| George Brandis – Attorney General | 26% | 34% | 4% | 22% | 14% | 20% | 40% | -8 | +32 |
Of the Government Ministers listed, Julie Bishop has the best approval rating by a considerable margin (52% approve/23% disapprove). Opinions are almost evenly divided on all other ministers except George Brandis with 26% approve/34% disapprove.
Among Liberal/National voters, approval ranges from 75% for Julie Bishop to 49% for George Brandis.