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
8/11/16 |
2 weeks ago
1/11/16 |
4 weeks ago
18/10/16 |
Election 2 Jul 16 | |||
| Liberal | 34% | 35% | 36% | 34% | |||
| National | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% | |||
| Total Liberal/National | 37% | 38% | 38% | 37% | 42.0% | ||
| Labor | 37% | 37% | 37% | 37% | 34.7% | ||
| Greens | 11% | 10% | 10% | 11% | 10.2% | ||
| Nick Xenophon Team | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% | |||
| Pauline Hanson’s One Nation | 6% | 6% | 6% | 5% | |||
| Other/Independent | 6% | 6% | 7% | 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.
Q. Overall, do you think that laws governing racial discrimination in Australia are too strict, too weak or about right?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Too strict | 17% | 11% | 22% | 7% | 32% | |
| Too weak | 26% | 31% | 21% | 45% | 22% | |
| About right | 40% | 43% | 44% | 35% | 36% | |
| Don’t know | 17% | 15% | 13% | 14% | 11% |
40% think Australia current laws governing racial discrimination are about right, 26% think they are too weak and 17% think they are too strict.
Those most likely to think they are too weak were Greens voters (45%), Labor voters (31%) and women (31%)
Those most likely to think they are too strict were Liberal/National voters (22%), other voters (32%) and men (22%)
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the proposal to change the Racial Discrimination Act so that it is no longer unlawful to “offend or insult” someone because of their race or ethnicity? It will still be unlawful to “humiliate or intimidate” someone because of their race or ethnicity.
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Sep 2016 | |||
| Total approve | 44% | 37% | 58% | 26% | 51% | 45% | ||
| Total disapprove | 33% | 40% | 23% | 62% | 31% | 35% | ||
| Strongly approve | 15% | 11% | 22% | 7% | 18% | 16% | ||
| Approve | 29% | 26% | 36% | 19% | 33% | 29% | ||
| Disapprove | 18% | 22% | 13% | 26% | 22% | 18% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 15% | 18% | 10% | 36% | 9% | 17% | ||
| Don’t know | 23% | 23% | 19% | 12% | 17% | 21% |
44% approve of changing the Racial Discrimination Act so that it is no longer unlawful to “offend or insult” someone because of their race or ethnicity and 33% disapprove. 58% of Liberal/National voters approve of changing the Act while 62% of Greens voters disapproved. Labor voters were split 37% approve/40% disapprove.
These results are very similar to those when this question was asked in September.
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Jun 2014 | Feb 2015 | Aug 2015 | Sep 2015 | Dec 2015 | Mar 2016 | Jul 2016 | |||
| Malcolm Turnbull | 21% | 19% | 36% | 12% | 10% | 31% | 24% | 24% | 37% | 42% | 39% | 30% | ||
| Tony Abbott | 11% | 6% | 19% | 4% | 13% | 18% | 11% | 18% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% | ||
| Julie Bishop | 20% | 20% | 20% | 33% | 22% | 4% | 21% | 17% | 14% | 13% | 12% | 16% | ||
| Christopher Pyne | 2% | 2% | 2% | 5% | 3% | <1% | <1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 3% | ||
| Scott Morrison | 3% | 2% | 4% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 3% | ||
| Someone else | 18% | 23% | 7% | 17% | 36% | 19% | 13% | 13% | 10% | 9% | 15% | 19% | ||
| Don’t know | 25% | 29% | 12% | 28% | 14% | 21% | 24% | 22% | 21% | 22% | 21% | 21% |
21% (down 9% since July) think Malcolm Turnbull would make the best leader of the Liberal Party, 20% prefer Julie Bishop (up 4%) and 11% prefer Tony Abbott (up 2%). 18% (down 1%) prefer someone else.
Among Liberal/National voters, 36% (down 14%) prefer Malcolm Turnbull, 20% (up 3%) Julie Bishop and 19% (up 6%) prefer Tony Abbott.
Preferences of men were Malcolm Turnbull 25% (-6%), Julie Bishop 19% (+2%) and Tony Abbott 13% (+4%).
Preferences of women were Julie Bishop 22% (+7%), Malcolm Turnbull 17% (-11%) and Tony Abbott 9% (+1%).
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Labor Party?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Aug 2015 | Dec 2015 | Mar 2016 | Jul 2016 | |||
| Bill Shorten | 17% | 37% | 8% | 15% | 9% | 16% | 13% | 15% | 27% | ||
| Anthony Albanese | 12% | 14% | 12% | 13% | 16% | 12% | 14% | 14% | 11% | ||
| Tanya Plibersek | 14% | 16% | 12% | 22% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 14% | 12% | ||
| Chris Bowen | 4% | 2% | 5% | 1% | 7% | 5% | 3% | 7% | 3% | ||
| Tony Burke | 2% | 1% | 4% | 6% | 2% | – | – | – | – | ||
| Someone else | 18% | 10% | 26% | 11% | 29% | 18% | 17% | 18% | 17% | ||
| Don’t know | 32% | 21% | 34% | 32% | 22% | 36% | 38% | 32% | 30% |
17% (down 10% since July) think Bill Shorten would make the best leader of the Labor Party, 14% (up 2%) prefer Tanya Plibersek and 12% (up 1%) Anthony Albanese. 18% prefer someone else and 32% don’t know.
Among Labor voters, 37% (down 14%) prefer Bill Shorten, 16% (up 4%) Tanya Plibersek and 14% (up 3%) Anthony Albanese.
Preferences of men were Bill Shorten 19% (-10%), Anthony Albanese 16% (+3%) and Tanya Plibersek 13% (-1%).
Preferences of women were Bill Shorten 16% (-9%), Tanya Plibersek 14% (+3%) and Anthony Albanese 9% (no change).
Q. Currently, donations to charities, including environmental protection, social welfare and religious organisations, are tax deductible. Donations to political parties are also tax deductible. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
| Total agree | Total disagree | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | ||
| Environmental groups should be able to publicly criticise the government if it makes decisions that cause environmental destruction. | 74% | 11% | 34% | 40% | 7% | 4% | 15% | |
| I should be able to make a tax deduction for donations I make to environmental groups such as WWF and ACF | 70% | 13% | 30% | 40% | 8% | 5% | 17% | |
| Environmental groups play an important role to play in holding the government to account for environmentally destructive decisions. | 69% | 14% | 28% | 41% | 9% | 5% | 16% | |
| Environmental groups should be able to take the government to court if the government makes a decision that does not comply with environmental law | 67% | 16% | 32% | 35% | 10% | 6% | 17% |
More than two-thirds agreed with each statement.
70% agree that donations to environmental groups should be tax deductible and 74% agree that environmental groups should be able to publicly criticise the Government.
82% of Greens voters, 73% of Labor voters and 69% of Liberal/National voters agree donations should be tax deductible.
Q. Thinking about elections, have you taken more or less interest in the US election than the July election in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | ||
| Taken more interest in the US election | 33% | 32% | 37% | 31% | 36% | |
| Taken less interest in the US election | 22% | 22% | 24% | 25% | 22% | |
| About the same interest | 38% | 40% | 37% | 41% | 38% | |
| Don’t know | 6% | 6% | 3% | 3% | 4% |
33% say they took more interest in the US election than the Australian election, 22% took less interest and 38% about the same interest.
Those more likely to take more interest in the US election than the Australian election were aged 18-24 (45%), full-time workers (38%) and incomes over $1,500pw (39%).
Q. Would you support or oppose introducing the following requirement concerning political donation?
| Total support | Total oppose | Strongly support | Support | Oppose | Strongly oppose | Don’t know | ||
| All politicians to publicly disclose meetings with representatives of companies, donors or unions | 77% | 6% | 41% | 36% | 4% | 2% | 17% | |
| Political donations to be reported immediately by political parties, compared to annual reports at the moment | 73% | 6% | 37% | 36% | 5% | 1% | 21% | |
| A ban on foreign donations | 66% | 12% | 40% | 26% | 9% | 3% | 23% | |
| A cap on donations of $5000 | 61% | 13% | 27% | 34% | 10% | 3% | 26% | |
| A ban on political donations by companies and unions | 59% | 16% | 29% | 30% | 14% | 2% | 26% | |
| All donations banned and all political party spending to be taxpayer funded | 25% | 49% | 11% | 14% | 24% | 25% | 26% |
| Support by party preference | Total support | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | |
| All politicians to publicly disclose meetings with representatives of companies, donors or unions | 77% | 77% | 80% | 84% | 88% | |
| Political donations to be reported immediately by political parties, compared to annual reports at the moment | 73% | 72% | 73% | 84% | 88% | |
| A ban on foreign donations | 66% | 61% | 70% | 70% | 83% | |
| A cap on donations of $5000 | 61% | 59% | 64% | 69% | 73% | |
| A ban on political donations by companies and unions | 59% | 53% | 64% | 64% | 75% | |
| All donations banned and all political party spending to be taxpayer funded | 25% | 25% | 31% | 27% | 26% |
There was majority support for all listed reforms except taxpayer funding for political parties (25% support/49% oppose).
There was particularly strong support for public disclosure of meetings (77%) and immediate reporting of donations (73%).
64% of Liberal/National voters supported a ban on donations from companies and unions compared to 53% of Labor voters. Labor voters were a little less supportive than Liberal/National voters of all reforms listed.