Q. Do you think it is more important for the Government to return the budget to surplus as soon as possible – which may mean cutting services and raising taxes – OR should they delay the return to surplus and maintain services and invest in infrastructure?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
| Return to surplus as soon as possible, cut services, raise taxes |
15% |
5% |
26% |
10% |
8% |
|
| Delay return to surplus, maintain services, invest in infrastructure |
69% |
82% |
61% |
79% |
71% |
|
| Don’t know |
16% |
13% |
13% |
11% |
21% |
Only 15% think that the Government should return the budget to surplus as soon as possible – which may mean cutting services and raising taxes – and 69% think they should delay the return to surplus and maintain services and invest in infrastructure.
Liberal/National voters were a little more likely to think it is more important to return to surplus as soon as possible (26%).
Government performance, tony abbott
Q. Overall, would you say that the performance of Tony Abbott and the Coalition Government has been better or worse than you expected or has it been about what you expected?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
| Total better |
18% |
7% |
34% |
6% |
4% |
|
| Total worse |
27% |
51% |
5% |
45% |
35% |
|
| Much better than expected |
6% |
1% |
13% |
– |
1% |
|
| Somewhat better than expected |
12% |
6% |
21% |
6% |
3% |
|
| About what expected |
47% |
34% |
59% |
43% |
52% |
|
| Somewhat worse than expected |
14% |
25% |
4% |
22% |
17% |
|
| Much worse than expected |
13% |
26% |
1% |
23% |
18% |
|
| Don’t know |
8% |
6% |
2% |
6% |
9% |
18% think that the performance of Tony Abbott and the Coalition Government has been better than expected, 27% say it is worse than expected and 47% think it is about what they expected.
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 = 1,898 respondents
| First preference/leaning to |
Election 7 Sep 13 (current figures) |
|
4 weeks ago 22/10/13 |
2 weeks ago 5/11/13 |
Last week 12/11/13 |
This week 19/11/13 |
| Liberal |
|
41% |
43% |
42% |
41% |
|
| National |
3% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
||
| Total Lib/Nat |
45.6% |
44% |
45% |
44% |
44% |
|
| Labor |
33.4% |
34% |
36% |
35% |
35% |
|
| Greens |
8.6% |
10% |
8% |
9% |
9% |
|
| Other/Independent |
12.4% |
11% |
11% |
12% |
11% |
| 2 Party Preferred |
Election 7 Sep 13 |
|
4 weeks ago 22/10/13 |
2 weeks ago 5/11/13 |
Last week 12/11/13 |
This week 19/11/13 |
| Liberal National |
53.4% |
53% |
53% |
53% |
53% |
|
| Labor |
46.6% |
47% |
47% |
47% |
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 2010 election.
Q. How would you rate the performance of the Federal Government in handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
|
| Total good |
28% |
|
8% |
56% |
5% |
12% |
| Total poor |
40% |
|
63% |
11% |
82% |
50% |
| Very good |
10% |
|
2% |
20% |
– |
2% |
| Good |
18% |
|
6% |
36% |
5% |
10% |
| Neither good nor poor |
27% |
|
22% |
30% |
11% |
31% |
| Poor |
14% |
|
21% |
8% |
19% |
13% |
| Very poor |
26% |
|
42% |
3% |
63% |
37% |
| Don’t know |
6% |
|
5% |
3% |
2% |
7% |
28% think that performance of the Federal Government in handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat is good and 40% think it is poor.
63% of Labor voters and 82% of Greens voters think it is poor. 56% of Liberal/National voters think it is good.
Q. Thinking about the Federal Government budget, how important do you believe it is for the budget to be in surplus…?
|
Total important |
Total not important |
|
Don’t know |
|
Total important 5 Feb 13 |
|
| …for the country as a whole |
65% |
27% |
8% |
69% |
||
| …for you personally |
52% |
38% |
|
10% |
54% |
A clear majority of respondents (65%) regard having a Federal Government budget surplus to be important for the country as a whole, whereas a somewhat smaller majority regard it to be important for them personally (52%).
38% of respondents believe having a Federal Government budget surplus was not important for them personally.
Since this question was last asked in February, those who think a budget surplus is important for the country as a whole has dropped from 69% to 65%.
80% of Liberal/National voters think a budget surplus is important for the country as a whole compared to 51% of Labor voters and 49% of Greens voters.
Q. Do you think that Coalition Government will deliver a budget surplus in their first year of Government?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
|
| Probably will deliver a surplus |
12% |
|
10% |
17% |
8% |
12% |
| Probably won’t deliver a surplus |
68% |
|
73% |
67% |
75% |
70% |
| Don’t know |
20% |
|
17% |
17% |
17% |
17% |
12% of respondents think the Coalition will probably deliver a budget surplus in their first year of Government and 68% think they will probably not.
Those most likely to think they will delver a surplus are Liberal/National voters (17%) and aged under 35 (18%). Over 60% of all main demographic and voter groups think they will not deliver a surplus.
Q. Do you think that Coalition Government will deliver a budget surplus sometime in their 3-year term of Government?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
|
| Probably will deliver a surplus |
37% |
|
23% |
55% |
26% |
35% |
| Probably won’t deliver a surplus |
40% |
|
54% |
27% |
51% |
42% |
| Don’t know |
24% |
|
23% |
18% |
24% |
23% |
37% of respondents think the Coalition will probably deliver a budget surplus sometime in their 3-year term of Government and 40% think they will probably not.
Those most likely to think they will delver a surplus are Liberal/National voters (55%) and people on incomes over $1,600pw (43%).
54% of Labor voters and 51% of Greens voters think they will not deliver a surplus.
Q. Which party would you trust most to handle the following issues?
|
Labor |
Liberal |
Greens |
Don’t know |
|
Difference 19 Nov 13 |
Difference 2 Sep 13 |
|
| Management of the economy |
21% |
47% |
3% |
29% |
-25 |
-15 |
|
| Ensuring a quality education for all children |
34% |
32% |
5% |
28% |
+2 |
+10 |
|
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system |
32% |
33% |
6% |
30% |
-1 |
+3 |
|
| Protecting the environment |
15% |
21% |
35% |
28% |
+14 |
+22 |
|
| A fair industrial relations system |
34% |
32% |
5% |
29% |
+2 |
+10 |
|
| Political leadership |
19% |
42% |
5% |
34% |
-23 |
-9 |
|
| Addressing climate change |
19% |
23% |
28% |
31% |
+5 |
+9 |
|
| Controlling interest rates |
21% |
42% |
4% |
34% |
-21 |
-12 |
|
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries |
29% |
36% |
4% |
31% |
-7 |
-2 |
|
| Ensuring a quality water supply |
17% |
30% |
19% |
35% |
-13 |
-8 |
|
| Housing affordability |
25% |
31% |
6% |
38% |
-6 |
-2 |
|
| Ensuring a fair taxation system |
26% |
37% |
5% |
32% |
-11 |
-5 |
|
| Security and the war on terrorism |
18% |
40% |
4% |
38% |
-22 |
-11 |
|
| Treatment of asylum seekers |
17% |
35% |
13% |
34% |
-18 |
-13 |
|
| Managing population growth |
16% |
35% |
8% |
42% |
-19 |
-9 |
Note – Differences are calculated by subtracting Liberal % from Labor % – except for the two issues on which the Greens lead in which case it is Greens minus Liberal.
The Liberal Party is trusted more to handle management of the economy (-25), political leadership (-23), security and the war on terrorism (-22) and controlling interest rates (-21). There are no issues on which the Labor Party is significantly more trusted than the Liberal Party.
Since this question was asked in September, the Liberal Party has improved its position on all issues – especially political leadership (up 14%), security and the war on terrorism (up 11%), managing the economy (up 10%) and managing population growth (up 10%).