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Federal Budget and post Covid-19 economic recovery
Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the recent Federal Budget and the direction for the country to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic?
| TOTAL:
Agree |
TOTAL:
Disagree |
Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Neither agree, nor disagree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | Unsure | |
| The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy | 75% | 5% | 43% | 33% | 13% | 3% | 2% | 7% |
| The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not | 70% | 5% | 36% | 34% | 17% | 4% | 2% | 8% |
| There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services | 51% | 10% | 20% | 31% | 29% | 8% | 2% | 11% |
| The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control | 49% | 21% | 18% | 32% | 22% | 15% | 6% | 7% |
- There is strong agreement that the Government is responsible for the future of the economy. 75% agree that ‘The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy’ and 70% of people agree that ‘The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not’
- However, half of people (49%) agree with the statement that ‘The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control’. Coalition voters are more likely to agree with this statement than Labor voters (58% to 48%).
- Half of people agree that ‘There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services’ (51%). Those more likely to agree with this statement include Labor voters (60%), those in paid employment (56%) and men (56%).
NBN
Q. Is your home or workplace connected to the NBN?
| Is your home connected to the NBN? | Is your workplace connected to the NBN? | NET: Home or work connected to NBN | |
| Yes | 59% | 28% | 65% |
| No | 38% | 19% | 33% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 15% | 2% |
| Not applicable | – | 37% | – |
| Is your home connected to the NBN? | Is your workplace connected to the NBN? | NET: Home or work connected to NBN | |
| Yes | 76% | 34% | 79% |
| No | 20% | 10% | 19% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 17% | 2% |
| Not applicable | – | 38% | – |
- Home connection to NBN has increased from 59% in January 2019 to 76%, while workplace connection is now at 34% (previously 28%).
- Would you say that your NBN internet service is better or worse than your previous service in terms of speed and reliability?
All people with NBN connection at home/work
| Oct’20 | Jan’19 | |
| NET: Better | 51% | 51% |
| NET: Worse | 15% | 17% |
| Much better | 24% | 24% |
| A little better | 27% | 27% |
| About the same | 32% | 30% |
| A little worse | 10% | 10% |
| Much worse | 7% | 7% |
| Don’t know | 2% | 2% |
- There has been no improvement to the speed and reliability of NBN over the past two years. Half of people using NBN the service has improved since switching (no change from Jan’19) and a third (32%) there has been no change. 15% report having a worse service since moving to NBN?
Q. Would you approve or disapprove of privatising the NBN when it is completed in 2020?
| Federal Voting Intention | Gender | Age | ||||||||||
| Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Jan’19 | ||
| Strongly approve | 11% | 11% | 12% | 20% | 15% | 18% | 5% | 11% | 16% | 6% | 9% | |
| Somewhat approve | 22% | 17% | 27% | 19% | 25% | 25% | 19% | 33% | 21% | 12% | 20% | |
| Somewhat disapprove | 14% | 14% | 14% | 8% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 14% | 18% | |
| Strongly disapprove | 25% | 34% | 18% | 26% | 30% | 23% | 26% | 16% | 18% | 39% | 26% | |
| Don’t know | 29% | 24% | 30% | 28% | 15% | 21% | 36% | 27% | 31% | 29% | 27% | |
| NET: Approve | 33% | 28% | 39% | 39% | 40% | 43% | 23% | 45% | 37% | 19% | 29% | |
| NET: Disapprove | 38% | 48% | 31% | 34% | 45% | 36% | 40% | 29% | 32% | 52% | 44% | |
| Base (n) | 1,082 | 352 | 421 | 84 | 123 | 352 | 555 | 328 | 369 | 385 | 1,089 | |
- A third (33%) approve of privatising the NBN when it is completed in 2020 and 38% disapprove.
- Labor voters were more likely to disapprove of privatisation (48%) than Coalition voters (31%) and Greens voters (34%).
Coronavirus concerns
Q. To what extent are you concerned about the threat of Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Australia?
| 05/10 | 21/09 | 07/09 | 24/08 | 10/08 | 27/07 | 13/07 | 22/06 | 15/06 | 08/06 | 01/06 | |
| Very concerned | 30% | 36% | 37% | 40% | 50% | 43% | 36% | 25% | 28% | 27% | 32% |
| Quite concerned | 52% | 45% | 45% | 46% | 40% | 44% | 48% | 50% | 45% | 48% | 49% |
| Not that concerned | 15% | 15% | 13% | 10% | 7% | 9% | 12% | 21% | 23% | 21% | 15% |
| Not at all concerned | 3% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Base (n) | 1,066 | 1,081 | 1,076 | 1,068 | 1,010 | 1,058 | 1,054 | 1,079 | 1,087 | 1,073 | 1,059 |
- Level of concern with Covid-19 has eased this week. 30% are now very concerned (down from 36% in September), with a corresponding increase to those saying they are Quite concerned (45% to 52%).
Federal government response to Covid-19
Q. Overall, how would you rate the federal government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| 05/10 | 21/09 | 07/09 | 24/08 | 10/08 | 27/07 | 13/07 | 22/06 | 15/06 | 08/06 | 01/06 | |
| Very poor | 5% | 5% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 5% |
| Quite poor | 12% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 8% | 11% | 10% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 7% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 22% | 21% | 22% | 22% | 21% | 20% | 20% | 17% | 16% | 18% | 20% |
| Quite good | 39% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 43% | 42% | 40% | 39% |
| Very good | 21% | 21% | 18% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 24% | 27% | 30% | 30% | 28% |
| TOTAL: Poor | 18% | 18% | 19% | 17% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 12% | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| TOTAL: Good | 60% | 61% | 59% | 61% | 63% | 64% | 64% | 71% | 72% | 70% | 68% |
| Base (n) | 1,066 | 1,081 | 1,076 | 1,068 | 1,010 | 1,058 | 1,054 | 1,079 | 1,087 | 1,073 | 1,059 |
- Rating of the Federal Government’s handling of Covid-19 stays steady at 60% rating it very or quite good (59% last month).
State government response to Covid-19
Q. How would you rate your state government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| TOTAL: Good | 05/10 | 21/09 | 07/09 | 24/08 | 10/08 | 27/07 | 13/07 | 22/06 | 15/06 | 08/06 | 01/06 |
| NSW | 65% | 67% | 57% | 59% | 61% | 62% | 63% | 70% | 65% | 67% | 62% |
| VIC | 45% | 47% | 50% | 47% | 49% | 53% | 49% | 65% | 75% | 72% | 71% |
| QLD | 69% | 68% | 66% | 73% | 68% | 67% | 69% | 64% | 67% | 68% | 69% |
| SA | 81% | 81% | 74% | 65% | 72% | 76% | 79% | 79% | 76% | 79% | 70% |
| WA | 83% | 84% | 87% | 84% | 86% | 82% | 77% | 75% | 77% | 84% | 79% |
- Positive rating of the NSW Government was steady this week (65% rating the performance as good, compared to 67% last month).
- Rating of state government performance was also steady in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
Federal budget engagement
Q. How much attention will you pay to the Federal Budget announcements?
| Total | Gender | Age Group | ||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| No attention at all | 6% | 5% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 4% |
| Not much attention | 18% | 18% | 18% | 32% | 15% | 10% |
| A little attention | 42% | 38% | 45% | 43% | 45% | 38% |
| A lot of attention | 34% | 39% | 29% | 17% | 34% | 48% |
| Base (n) | 1,066 | 531 | 535 | 340 | 341 | 385 |
- Most people will be following the budget announcement on Tuesday with 34% saying they will pay a lot of attention, and 42% paying a little attention.
- Men (39% paying a lot of attention) and older people (48%) will be most likely to closely follow the announcements.
Federal budget expectations
Q. The Federal Budget will be announced on Tuesday 6th October.
In general, do you expect the Federal Budget will be good or bad for the following?
| Oct’20 | Mar’19 | |||||||
| NET: Very Good / Good | Neither good, nor bad | NET: Very bad / Bad | Don’t know | NET: Very Good / Good | Neither good, nor bad | NET: Very bad / Bad | Don’t know | |
| Big business | 53% | 26% | 12% | 9% | – | – | – | – |
| People who are well off | 51% | 30% | 10% | 8% | 58% | 23% | 9% | 10% |
| Small business | 44% | 26% | 23% | 7% | – | – | – | – |
| The economy overall | 34% | 27% | 32% | 7% | 35% | 33% | 24% | 9% |
| Australian families | 33% | 31% | 29% | 7% | 27% | 32% | 33% | 9% |
| Older Australians | 31% | 28% | 34% | 7% | 25% | 28% | 38% | 9% |
| Average working people | 30% | 29% | 34% | 6% | 31% | 30% | 30% | 9% |
| People on lower incomes | 30% | 23% | 40% | 6% | 26% | 32% | 31% | 10% |
| Younger Australians | 29% | 31% | 33% | 8% | 24% | 25% | 42% | 10% |
| You personally | 25% | 36% | 31% | 8% | 19% | 37% | 34% | 9% |
- Budget expectations are in line with March 2019, showing people are not expecting drastically different announcements this week.
- Over half of people think big business (53%), and those who are well-off (51%) to benefit from the budget, while the losers are expected to be those on a lower income (40% expect these to have a bad/very bad budget), older Australians (34%) and younger Australians (33%).
- More people expect the budget announcement to be bad for them than good. A quarter of people think the budget will benefit them personally (25% think the budget will be good/very good), which is less than those expecting it to be bad/very bad for them (31%).
By voting preference
| NET:
Very good / Good |
Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal / National | Vote Greens | NET: Vote Other |
| Big business | 53% | 62% | 47% | 68% | 58% |
| People who are well off | 51% | 62% | 41% | 67% | 56% |
| Small business | 44% | 41% | 55% | 36% | 33% |
| The economy overall | 34% | 31% | 43% | 31% | 26% |
| Australian families | 33% | 30% | 43% | 28% | 23% |
| Older Australians | 31% | 27% | 39% | 34% | 23% |
| Average working people | 30% | 25% | 43% | 19% | 23% |
| People on lower incomes | 30% | 27% | 40% | 24% | 17% |
| Younger Australians | 29% | 25% | 37% | 24% | 27% |
| You personally | 25% | 22% | 32% | 27% | 18% |
- Labor and Greens voters are more likely than Coalition voters to expect a favourable budget for Big businesses (62% and 68% of Labor and Greens voters respectively, to 47% of Coalition) and for those well-off (62% and 67% to 41%.
- For all other groups, Coalition voters are more likely to expect a good budget than Labor or Greens.
- 32% of Coalition voters think they will have a good budget. This was higher than Labor (22%), Greens (27%) or those voting for another independent/minor party (18%).
Economy: Revert to old ways vs opportunity for change
Q. Which of the following options is closest to your view on the best way for Australia to recover economically following the Covid-19 pandemic?
| Total | Gender | Age Group | ||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| Now is not the time to experiment with new ideas, we should return to the way the economy was being run | 22% | 23% | 22% | 30% | 23% | 15% |
| The pandemic has exposed flaws in the economy and there is an opportunity to explore new ways to run the economy | 78% | 77% | 78% | 70% | 77% | 85% |
| Base (n) | 1,066 | 531 | 535 | 340 | 341 | 385 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Liberal + National | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Now is not the time to experiment with new ideas, we should return to the way the economy was being run | 22% | 21% | 24% | 23% | 22% |
| The pandemic has exposed flaws in the economy and there is an opportunity to explore new ways to run the economy | 78% | 79% | 76% | 77% | 78% |
| Base (n) | 1,066 | 332 | 433 | 91 | 111 |
- Over three-quarters of people believe that the pandemic has exposed flaws in the economy and there is an opportunity to explore new ways to run the economy (78%) with the remaining 22% thinking that now is not the time to experiment with new ideas, we should return to the way the economy was being run.
- Preference for exploring new ideas was selected by the majority within gender (77% of men, 78% of women), ages (70% of 18-34 year olds, 77% of 35-54 year olds and 85% of those aged over 55), and voting intention.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
Labor
45%
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48%
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