Federal ICAC

Q. To what extent would you support or oppose the establishment of an independent federal corruption body to monitor the behaviour of our politicians and public servants?

• 80% of participants support the establishment of an independent federal corruption body to monitor the behaviour of our politicians and public servants.
• Support is higher than late last year when the same question was asked in conjunction with the conduct of Angus Taylor and the use of inflated figures that Mr Taylor’s office used to attack the travel record of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore (75% in Dec’19).

Ministerial Conduct

Q. Over the past few weeks the Opposition has been raising concern about the conduct of Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie.

It is claimed she allocated $100million to sporting organisations in marginal seats to favour the Coalition in the 2019 Federal election.

Which of the following best describes your perspective on the issue?

•  One-third (34%) of participants have not been following the issue of Bridget McKenzie and the allocation of Sports grants.
• Half of participants believe the Prime Minister should have stood the Minister down from cabinet over the issue (51%), while just 15% believe Scott Morrison was correct to support his colleague.
• Coalition voters are least likely to say that the PM should have stood the Minister down (41%).

National Day

Q. It has been suggested that Australia should have a separate national day to recognise Indigenous Australians. Do you…?  

• Support for a separate day to recognise Indigenous Australians (either in place, or alongside Australia Day) has decreased 2%pts from last year, from 52% to 50%.
• 32% support including a separate national day with a further 18% supporting a replacement of Australia Day.
• Support for a separate day was highest among Greens (73%) and Labor (58%) voters.

• Support for a separate day was highest among those aged 18-34, with 65% support. Support was at 50% support among 35-54 year olds and 36% among those aged over 55.

Australia Day

Q. Will you personally be doing anything to celebrate Australia Day or do you treat it as just a public holiday?

• 34% said they will be doing something to celebrate Australia Day, 46% treat Australia Day as just a public holiday and 6% are working because they don’t get the Australia Day holiday.
• People aged 18-34 were less likely to be engaging in specific celebrations to mark the National Day compared to last year (32%, down from 45% in 2019).

Performance of Scott Morrison

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?

• The Prime Minister’s approval rating has decreased from 45% last year to 40% this year.
• 52% disapprove of his performance in January, up from 43%. This has been driven by an increase those who strongly disapprove – up from 22% in December to 32%.
• The PM’s approval rating among Coalition voters remains consistent with 79% approval (on par with 82% approval last month).
• He has lost approval among Labor voters, among whom strongly disapprove has increased from 36% in December to 52%.

Performance of Anthony Albanese

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?

• Approval for Albanese has remained steady heading into 2020, moving from 39% to 43% between December and January.
• His approval from within his voter base (64% among Labor voters) is not as strong as Scott Morrison (79% among Coalition voters).
• Those who don’t know about Albanese’s performance is now 27%, the lowest since he became the Labor leader.

Preferred Prime Minister

Q. Who do you think would makes the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?

• For the first time since becoming leader of the Labor party, more people consider Anthony Albanese more capable of being PM than Scott Morrison. 39% think Albanese would be the better PM, compared to 36% for Morrison.
• A 6pt drop from November for Morrison has coincided with an 11pt increase for Albanese.
• A quarter (25%) don’t know who would make the better PM between the two.

Leadership during bushfires

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of Scott Morrison/Gladys Berejiklian/Daniel Andrews’s handling of the bushfire crisis?

• Around a third (32%) of people approve of Scott Morrison’s handing of the current bushfires crisis, with just 8% strongly approving of his performance. 36% strongly disapprove of his performance.
• Comparatively, state premiers Berejiklian and Andrews have performed well, with over half of people in each state approving of their handling of the crisis (55% in NSW and 58% in Victoria).
• The majority of Scott Morrison’s approval is coming from within his own supporter base, with 64% of intended Coalition voters approving of his performance during the crisis. Just 11% of Labor voters and 23% of those voting for another party approve of his performance.