The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report

  • Dec, 2020

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    Interest in news stories

    Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?

    The Covid-19 outbreak in South Australia 

      Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
    Very closely 26% 28% 23% 22% 28% 27% 24% 29% 30% 22%
    Fairly closely 43% 45% 42% 42% 41% 46% 48% 46% 31% 36%
    Not that closely 23% 21% 25% 28% 22% 21% 23% 21% 25% 28%
    Not closely at all 8% 6% 9% 7% 9% 7% 4% 4% 14% 14%
    TOTAL: Closely 69% 73% 65% 65% 69% 73% 73% 75% 61% 59%
    TOTAL: Not closely 31% 27% 35% 35% 31% 27% 27% 25% 39% 41%
    Base (n) 1,034 528 506 329 320 385 322 430 88 107
  • Dec, 2020

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    Interest in news stories

    Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?

    The alleged war crimes committed by Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan

      Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
    Very closely 17% 23% 10% 17% 16% 17% 19% 17% 22% 17%
    Fairly closely 36% 39% 34% 32% 33% 42% 38% 40% 27% 33%
    Not that closely 31% 27% 36% 32% 31% 31% 30% 32% 31% 29%
    Not closely at all 16% 11% 21% 18% 20% 10% 13% 11% 21% 21%
    TOTAL: Closely 53% 62% 44% 49% 49% 59% 57% 57% 49% 50%
    TOTAL: Not closely 47% 38% 56% 51% 51% 41% 43% 43% 51% 50%
    Base (n) 1,034 528 506 329 320 385 322 430 88 107
  • Dec, 2020

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    Interest in news stories

    Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?

    The Trump campaign’s ongoing legal disputes regarding the US presidential election

      Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
    Very closely 22% 29% 16% 23% 25% 19% 21% 25% 29% 28%
    Fairly closely 34% 36% 33% 38% 31% 34% 39% 36% 28% 28%
    Not that closely 29% 23% 33% 27% 28% 31% 28% 29% 27% 22%
    Not closely at all 15% 11% 19% 13% 17% 15% 12% 10% 16% 22%
    TOTAL: Closely 56% 65% 48% 60% 56% 54% 60% 61% 57% 55%
    TOTAL: Not closely 44% 35% 52% 40% 44% 46% 40% 39% 43% 45%
    Base (n) 1,034 528 506 329 320 385 322 430 88 107

     

  • Dec, 2020

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    Interest in news stories

    Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?

    The trial results of Covid-19 vaccines

      Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
    Very closely 23% 28% 18% 16% 27% 25% 21% 27% 25% 22%
    Fairly closely 43% 42% 44% 47% 37% 46% 51% 44% 35% 33%
    Not that closely 25% 23% 26% 28% 25% 22% 21% 23% 31% 29%
    Not closely at all 9% 7% 11% 9% 11% 7% 7% 5% 10% 15%
    TOTAL: Closely 66% 70% 63% 63% 63% 72% 72% 71% 59% 55%
    TOTAL: Not closely 34% 30% 37% 37% 37% 28% 28% 29% 41% 45%
    Base (n) 1,034 528 506 329 320 385 322 430 88 107
  • Dec, 2020

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    Coronavirus concerns

    Q. To what extent are you concerned about the threat of Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Australia?

      30/11 16/11 02/11 05/10 21/09 07/09 24/08 10/08 27/07 13/07 22/06
    Very concerned 27% 27% 30% 30% 36% 37% 40% 50% 43% 36% 25%
    Quite concerned 43% 44% 46% 52% 45% 45% 46% 40% 44% 48% 50%
    Not that concerned 24% 23% 20% 15% 15% 13% 10% 7% 9% 12% 21%
    Not at all concerned 6% 6% 4% 3% 4% 5% 4% 3% 4% 3% 4%
    Base (n) 1,034 1,010 1,063 1,066 1,081 1,076 1,068 1,010 1,058 1,054 1,079
    • Concern about the threat of Covid-19 is at a similar level as last fortnight, with 30% saying they are either not that concerned (24%) or not at all concerned (6%). 27% are very concerned about the threat and the remaining 43% are quite concerned.
  • Dec, 2020

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    Federal Government response to Covid-19

    Q. Overall, how would you rate the Federal Government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?

      30/11 16/11 02/11 05/10 21/09 07/09 24/08 10/08 27/07 13/07 22/06 15/06
    Very poor 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% 8% 6% 7% 6% 6% 4% 3%
    Quite poor 8% 9% 10% 12% 13% 12% 11% 8% 11% 10% 8% 8%
    Neither good nor poor 19% 18% 24% 22% 21% 22% 22% 21% 20% 20% 17% 16%
    Quite good 41% 41% 39% 39% 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% 43% 42%
    Very good 26% 26% 22% 21% 21% 18% 22% 24% 24% 24% 27% 30%
    TOTAL: Poor 13% 15% 15% 18% 18% 19% 17% 16% 16% 16% 12% 11%
    TOTAL: Good 67% 67% 61% 60% 61% 59% 61% 63% 64% 64% 71% 72%
    Base (n) 1,034 1,010 1,063 1,066 1,081 1,076 1,068 1,010 1,058 1,054 1,079 1,087
    • Rating of the Federal Government’s handling of Covid-19 is stable at 67% rating it very or quite good (up from 61% earlier in the month).
  • Dec, 2020

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    State government response to Covid-19

    Q. How would you rate your state government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?

    TOTAL: Good 30/11 16/11 02/11 05/10 21/09 07/09 24/08 10/08 27/07 13/07 22/06 15/06
    NSW 76% 75% 68% 65% 67% 57% 59% 61% 62% 63% 70% 65%
    VIC 60% 59% 55% 45% 47% 50% 47% 49% 53% 49% 65% 75%
    QLD 72% 71% 69% 69% 68% 66% 73% 68% 67% 69% 64% 67%
    SA 70% 76% 77% 81% 81% 74% 65% 72% 76% 79% 79% 76%
    WA 83% 82% 81% 83% 84% 87% 84% 86% 82% 77% 75% 77%
    • Coinciding with the Covid-19 outbreak in South Australia, positive rating of the SA Government has dropped to 70%, the lowest rating we’ve seen since August.
    • As Victoria continues to record no new Covid-19 cases, positive rating of the government is at 60%, up from a low of 45% in October.
  • Dec, 2020

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    Awareness of the proportion of the Federal Budget spent on foreign aid

    Q. As far as you know, about how much of the Federal Budget is spent on foreign aid?

      Nov’20 Jun’17 Jun’15 Jul’11
     
    Less than 1% 6% 10% 13% 7%
    About 1% 8% 9% 11% 8%
    About 2% 13% 15% 14% 17%
    About 5% 16% 10% 10% 11%
    More than 5% 17% 12% 9% 16%
    Don’t know 39% 44% 43% 41%

     

      Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
    Less than 1% 6% 9% 4% 5% 6% 7% 7% 5% 11% 7%
    About 1% 8% 11% 4% 11% 7% 6% 7% 8% 17% 6%
    About 2% 13% 17% 10% 17% 11% 13% 15% 16% 13% 11%
    About 5% 16% 19% 13% 23% 15% 12% 15% 18% 14% 21%
    More than 5% 17% 15% 19% 13% 23% 15% 15% 18% 9% 29%
    Don’t know 39% 29% 49% 31% 38% 47% 41% 35% 36% 25%
    Base (n) 1,034 528 506 329 320 385 322 430 88 107
    • Only 6% of Australians correctly know that less than 1% of the Federal Budget is spent on foreign aid. Fewer people know the correct proportion than in previous years (10% in 2017 and 13% in 2015)
    • 17% think over 5% is spent. This is higher than previous years when this question was asked (12% in 2017 and 9% in 2015).
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