Q. To raise more Government revenue to maintain services and reduce debt, which of the following actions would you favour most?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
||
Increase the GST |
27% |
19% |
39% |
16% |
25% |
|
Increase income taxes |
26% |
34% |
24% |
36% |
24% |
|
Expand the GST to cover food, health and education |
14% |
13% |
16% |
10% |
17% |
|
Don’t know |
33% |
34% |
21% |
37% |
34% |
To raise more Government revenue to maintain services and reduce debt, 27% favoured increasing the GST, 26% favoured increasing income taxes and 14% expanding the coverage of the GST.
Liberal/National voters (39%) were more inclined to favour increasing the GST while Labor voters (34%) and Greens voters (36%) favoured increasing income tax.
Women favoured increasing income taxes (30%) while men favoured increasing the GST (32%). For full-time workers, 33% favoured increasing the GST and 19% increasing income taxes.
Q. If you had to choose, which of the following changes to the GST would you favour?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
||
Increase the GST from 10% to 15% |
54% |
51% |
60% |
56% |
54% |
|
Keep the GST at 10% but expand to cover food, health and education |
46% |
49% |
40% |
44% |
46% |
When forced to choose between increasing the GST to 15% and expanding the GST to cover food, health and education, views were divided. 54% favoured increasing the GST to 15% and 46% favoured expanding the coverage of the GST. 60% of Liberal/National voters favoured increasing the GST.
Those aged 55+ were more likely to favour increasing the GST (62%). There was little difference across income levels.
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Government’s decision to stop awarding the honours of Knight and Dame of the Order of Australia?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
||
Total approve |
63% |
71% |
65% |
72% |
55% |
|
Total disapprove |
15% |
12% |
19% |
9% |
19% |
|
Strongly approve |
34% |
39% |
32% |
50% |
33% |
|
Approve |
29% |
32% |
33% |
22% |
22% |
|
Disapprove |
10% |
8% |
13% |
8% |
14% |
|
Strongly disapprove |
5% |
4% |
6% |
1% |
5% |
|
Don’t know |
23% |
18% |
16% |
19% |
26% |
63% approve of the Government’s decision to stop awarding the honours of Knight and Dame of the Order of Australia and only 15% disapprove. There were no substantial differences across demographic groups and a majority of all voter groups approved.
Q. Thinking about the voting age, which of the following options would you favour?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
|||
Keep the compulsory voting age at 18 |
77% |
74% |
88% |
59% |
75% |
66% |
81% |
84% |
||
Reduce the compulsory voting age to 16 |
4% |
7% |
3% |
3% |
8% |
6% |
5% |
1% |
||
Reduce the voting age to 16 but make it voluntary for 16 and 17 year olds |
14% |
16% |
8% |
35% |
15% |
20% |
10% |
12% |
||
Don’t know |
4% |
3% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
7% |
4% |
2% |
77% favour keeping the compulsory voting age at 18, 14% favour making voting voluntary for 16 and 17 year old and only 4% favour reducing the compulsory voting age to 16.
Those most likely to support giving 16-17 year olds the vote (either voluntary or compulsory) were Greens voters (38%) and those aged 18-24 (33%).
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?
Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?
Sample size = 1,760 respondents
First preference/leaning to |
Election 7 Sep 13 |
4 weeks ago 6/10/15 |
2 weeks ago 20/10/15 |
Last week 27/10/15 |
This week 3/11/15 |
|
Liberal |
41% |
41% |
41% |
41% |
||
National |
3% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
||
Total Liberal/National |
45.6% |
44% |
44% |
45% |
45% |
|
Labor |
33.4% |
35% |
36% |
35% |
34% |
|
Greens |
8.6% |
10% |
11% |
11% |
11% |
|
Palmer United Party |
5.5% |
1% |
1% |
1% |
1% |
|
Other/Independent |
6.9% |
9% |
8% |
8% |
9% |
2 Party Preferred |
Election 7 Sep 13 |
4 weeks ago 6/10/15 |
2 weeks ago 20/10/15 |
Last week 27/10/15 |
This week 3/11/15 |
|
Liberal National |
53.5% |
52% |
51% |
52% |
53% |
|
Labor |
46.5% |
48% |
49% |
48% |
47% |
NB. 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 2013 election.
Q. Under current laws, employers are required to pay 9.5% on top of workers’ salaries into superannuation which is taxed at 15%. Do you approve or disapprove of the current system of superannuation?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
Work full time |
Work part time |
|||
Total approve |
54% |
56% |
60% |
53% |
51% |
58% |
59% |
||
Total disapprove |
24% |
25% |
26% |
24% |
23% |
27% |
24% |
||
Strongly approve |
16% |
19% |
18% |
14% |
18% |
20% |
10% |
||
Approve |
38% |
37% |
42% |
39% |
33% |
38% |
49% |
||
Disapprove |
18% |
19% |
20% |
17% |
12% |
20% |
19% |
||
Strongly disapprove |
6% |
6% |
6% |
7% |
11% |
7% |
5% |
||
Don’t know |
21% |
19% |
15% |
23% |
26% |
16% |
16% |
54% say they approve of the current superannuation system which requires employers to pay 9.5% on top of workers’ salaries into superannuation which is taxed at 15%. 24% disapprove and 21% could not give an opinion.
62% of those aged 45+ approve compared to 45% of those aged 18-34.
Q. A recent report suggested that superannuation be changed so that everyone paid tax on their superannuation at 15 cents in the dollar less than their marginal rate of tax. That would mean a low income earner paying 21% tax would pay 6% on their super while a high income earner paying 49% tax would pay 34% on their super? Would you support or oppose this change to super?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
Work full time |
Work part time |
|||
Total support |
44% |
49% |
43% |
60% |
34% |
47% |
37% |
||
Total oppose |
32% |
30% |
36% |
23% |
42% |
35% |
38% |
||
Strongly support |
14% |
19% |
11% |
14% |
16% |
17% |
7% |
||
Support |
30% |
30% |
32% |
46% |
18% |
30% |
30% |
||
Oppose |
16% |
12% |
20% |
13% |
23% |
17% |
20% |
||
Strongly oppose |
16% |
18% |
16% |
10% |
19% |
18% |
18% |
||
Don’t know |
24% |
22% |
22% |
17% |
23% |
17% |
24% |
44% would support changes to superannuation where everyone paid tax on their superannuation at 15 cents in the dollar less than their marginal rate of tax and 32% would oppose.
Those earning $1,000-1,600 pw week split 50% support/29% oppose – compared to 42% support/39% oppose for those earning $1,600+ pw.
Q. Do you think it should be compulsory to contribute to superannuation or should workers be able to do whatever they want with their income?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
Work full time |
Work part time |
Sep 2014 |
||||
Superannuation should be compulsory |
64% |
60% |
73% |
65% |
64% |
67% |
67% |
61% |
|||
Workers should be able to do whatever they want with their income |
29% |
35% |
22% |
30% |
32% |
28% |
26% |
31% |
|||
Don’t know |
7% |
5% |
5% |
5% |
4% |
5% |
8% |
8% |
64% believe that superannuation should be compulsory and 29% think workers should be able to do whatever they want with their income.
Those most likely to oppose compulsory superannuation were aged under 45 (33%), Labor voters (35%) and those earning less than $1,000 pw (36%). Support for compulsory superannuation has increased a little since the question was asked in September last year.