Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?

39% (up 2%) believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 41% (up 2%) prefer Tony Abbott.

Men prefer Tony Abbott 44%/35% and women prefer Julia Gillard 43%/38%.

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Government’s decision to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme to be funded by increasing the Medicare levy from 1.5% to 2%?

57% approve and 30% disapprove the Government’s decision to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme to be funded by increasing the Medicare levy from 1.5% to 2%.

A substantial majority of Labor (77%) and Greens voters (75%) approve but Liberal/National voters are split 45% approve/42% disapprove.

Respondents most likely to approve were aged 55+ (68% approve/22% disapprove) and those earning less than $600pw (72%/19%).

Q. Thinking about the House of Representatives, which of the following do you think would provide the best Government for Australia?

49% think that the best Government would be if the governing party has an absolute majority in the House of Representatives while 25% think the independents and minor parties should hold the balance of power.

A majority (56%) of Greens voters would prefer to see the independents and minor parties should hold the balance of power while a majority (61%) of Liberal/National voters think the governing party should have an absolute majority.

Q. Now thinking about the Senate, which of the following do you think would provide the best Government for Australia?

32% think that the Government should also have a majority in the Senate while 25% think the independents and minor parties hold the balance of power. 8% think the Opposition should have a majority.

Liberal/National voters were a little more likely to favour the Government having a majority in the Senate (39%) while Greens (54%) and Labor (31%) were more likely to favour the independents and minor parties holding the balance of power.

Q. Regardless of how you vote in federal elections, how would you rate the performance of the following Independent MPs in federal parliament?

There were mixed opinions about the performance of the independents in Parliament. Respondents were similarly split over the performances of Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Andrew Wilkie but somewhat more negative about Bob Katter.

In NSW, Rob Oakeshott was rated 30% good/37% bad and Tony Windsor 29% good/36% bad. In Queensland Bob Katter was rated 33% good/36% bad.

Since this question was last asked in October 2011, the ratings of Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Andrew Wilkie have improved a little while Bob Katter’s has declined.

Q. The Opposition’s parental leave policy is to give new parents up to 26 weeks leave at their current full rate of pay (up to $150,000) to be paid for by a 1.5 per cent levy on large companies. The Labor Government’s policy gives new parents 18 weeks leave at the minimum wage rate paid for by the Government. Which scheme do you support most?

34% support the Government’s paid parental leave policy and 24% support the Opposition’s. 31% support neither policy.

The Government’s policy was preferred over the Opposition’s 41% to 24% by those aged 35-44 while those aged under 35 favoured the Opposition’s policy 38% to 34%.

Those earning less than $1,000 pw favoured the Government’s policy 40% to 19% while those earning $1,600+ pw slightly favoured the Opposition’s policy (33% to 29%).

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 = 1,840 respondents

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. These estimates have a confidence interval of approx. plus or minus 2-3%.

Q. Compared to other developed countries, do you think Australia’s national debt is higher, lower or about the same?

25% think that Australia’s National debt is higher than other developed countries and 48% think it is lower – 18% think it about the same.

A majority of Labor (58%) and Greens voters (57%) think our debt is lower than other countries while Liberal National voters were split – 39% think it is lower and 33% think it is higher.

There were no substantial differences by demographics.