17 September 2012, 170912, black market trade, decriminalization, illegal drugs, legalization, trafficking
Q. Thinking about the issue of illegal drugs in Australia, which has one of the highest per capita illicit drug use in the world, please indicate which position is closer to your view:
| Sample B (N=501) |
Total
|
Have a close friend or relative (n=69) |
No close friend or relative (n=417) |
Vote Labor (n=159) |
Vote Lib/Nat (n=205) |
Vote Greens (n=40) |
| We should legalise all illegal drugs (including production and trafficking within Australia) to reduce the unregulated black market trade in these substances. |
7% |
12% |
6% |
10% |
5% |
13% |
| We should legalise small scale illegal drug use and possession, but maintain criminal prohibitions on production and trafficking. |
30% |
41% |
26% |
35% |
22% |
40% |
| We should prohibit all activities related to illegal drugs in Australia, including production, trafficking, large and small-scale production and use. |
57%
|
45% |
59% |
50% |
67% |
30% |
| None of the above |
7% |
3% |
8% |
5% |
6% |
18% |
The largest portion of those respondents with a close friend or relative that regularly uses believe in prohibiting all activities related to illegal drugs in Australia (45%), followed by legalizing small scale illegal drug use and possession (41%), however this difference may be on account of margin of error in the small sub-sample size.
Once again, Coalition voters were the most likely to take the view that ‘we should prohibit all activities related to illegal drugs in Australia…’ (67%) compared to the rest of the sample by voting intention.
17 September 2012, 170912, amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, decriminalise drugs, ecstasy, heroin, ice, illegal drugs, speed
Q. Would you support decriminalisation of any of the following illegal drugs in Australia:
|
|
Yes |
No |
Don’t know |
| Cannabis |
38% |
49% |
13% |
| Ecstasy |
14% |
78% |
7% |
| Cocaine |
13% |
80% |
7% |
| Heroin |
11% |
83% |
6% |
| Amphetamines (such as speed or ice) |
10% |
83% |
7% |
For all drugs except cannabis, the vast majority of respondents believed in maintaining prohibitions on the drug.
Support for decriminalisation of cannabis is the strongest at 38% in favour (49% opposed).
Respondents are most strongly against decriminalisation of heroin (83%) and amphetamines (83%).
Male respondents are more likely to favour decriminalisation of cannabis (42%) compared to females (35%). They are also more likely to favour decriminalisation of ecstasy (17%) compared to female respondents (12%).
By voting intention, the majority of Greens voters were in favour of decriminalizing cannabis (56%).
17 September 2012, 170912, cyberbullying, government legislation, social media attacks, trolling
Q. Would you support the introduction of government legislation to prevent people from using social media to attack and bully individuals (known as ‘trolling’)?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Total Support |
83% |
84% |
85% |
82% |
| Total Oppose |
9% |
9% |
9% |
12% |
| Strongly support |
55% |
58% |
55% |
45% |
| Support |
28% |
26% |
30% |
37% |
| Oppose |
6% |
8% |
6% |
6% |
| Strongly oppose |
3% |
1% |
3% |
6% |
| Don’t know |
7% |
7% |
6% |
7% |
The vast majority of respondents support the introduction of government legislation to prevent people from trolling (83%), whilst 9% oppose any such introduction.
There are no significant variations by voting intention.
Female respondents are far more likely to strongly support a ban on trolling (61%) compared with male respondents (48%).
Looking at the results by age, those aged 45-54 (61%), 55-64 (61%) and 65+ (69%) were all significantly more likely to strongly support a ban.
10 September 2012, 100912, 2PP, first preference vote, Greens, Labor, Liberals, two party preferred
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 = 2,077 respondents
| First preference/leaning to |
Election 21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago 13/8/12 |
2 weeks ago 27/8/12 |
Last week 3/9/12 |
This week 10 Sept 2012 |
| Liberal |
|
46% |
46% |
44% |
44% |
| National |
|
3% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
| Total Lib/Nat |
43.6% |
49% |
49% |
48% |
47% |
| Labor |
38.0% |
32% |
32% |
34% |
34% |
| Greens |
11.8% |
10% |
10% |
9% |
9% |
| Other/Independent |
6.6% |
8% |
9% |
9% |
9% |
| 2PP |
Election 21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago
|
2 weeks ago
|
Last week |
This week |
| Total Lib/Nat |
49.9% |
56% |
56% |
55% |
55% |
| Labor |
50.1% |
44% |
44% |
45% |
45% |
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%.
10 September 2012, 100912, Approval of Julia Gillard
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
|
|
19 Jul 2010 |
14 June 2011 |
12 Dec 2011 |
16 Jan 2012 |
16 Apr 2012 |
16 Jul 2012 |
Last month 13 Aug 2012 |
This week 10 Sept 2012 |
| Total approve |
52% |
34% |
34% |
37% |
32% |
32% |
31% |
35% |
| Total disapprove |
30% |
54% |
54% |
52% |
58% |
58% |
57% |
54% |
| Strongly approve |
11% |
6% |
6% |
6% |
7% |
5% |
7% |
7% |
| Approve |
41% |
28% |
28% |
31% |
25% |
27% |
24% |
28% |
| Disapprove |
17% |
29% |
25% |
27% |
31% |
26% |
25% |
27% |
| Strongly disapprove |
13% |
25% |
29% |
25% |
27% |
32% |
32% |
27% |
| Don’t know |
18% |
13% |
11% |
12% |
10% |
10% |
13% |
11% |
Approval of Julia Gillard climbed 4 points from 31% last month to 35% approving of the job she is doing as Prime Minister this month, whilst her disapproval fell 3 points in the same time. In the 2 years since July 2010, Gillard’s disapproval has risen 24 points from 30% to 54%.
By state, approval for Gillard was strongest in South Australia (46%) and Victoria (44%) and weakest in Western Australia (66%, however this Western Australian sample size is considerably smaller at n=64).
Approval for Gillard was significantly stronger amongst female respondents (40% approve, 47% disapprove) compared to male respondents (31% approve/ 60% disapprove).
10 September 2012, 100912, Approval of Tony Abbott
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
|
|
19 Jul 2010 |
14 June 2011 |
12 Dec 2011 |
16 Jan 2012 |
16 Apr 2012 |
16 Jul 2012 |
Last month 13 Aug 2012 |
This week 10 Sept 2012 |
| Total approve |
40% |
38% |
32% |
35% |
38% |
35% |
36% |
32% |
| Total disapprove |
44% |
48% |
53% |
51% |
50% |
53% |
51% |
55% |
| Strongly approve |
6% |
6% |
6% |
7% |
7% |
7% |
8% |
6% |
| Approve |
34% |
32% |
26% |
28% |
31% |
28% |
28% |
26% |
| Disapprove |
22% |
25% |
25% |
25% |
23% |
23% |
22% |
26% |
| Strongly disapprove |
22% |
23% |
28% |
26% |
27% |
30% |
29% |
29% |
| Don’t know |
16% |
15% |
14% |
13% |
13% |
12% |
13% |
13% |
Tony Abbott’s approval fell 4 points within the last month, from 36% approval in August to 32% this week. His disapproval picked up 4 points from 51% to 55% in the same period. Over the 2 years since July 2010, his disapproval has risen 11 points from 44% to 55%.
There were few significant variations by state, save that respondents in South Australia were significantly more likely to disapprove of the job Abbot is doing as Opposition leader (63%).
Male respondents were more likely to approve of Abbott’s performance (36% approve / 55% disapprove) compared to female respondents (28% approve / 54% disapprove).
10 September 2012, 100912, Better PM, Julia Gillard, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
|
19 July 2010 |
14 Jun 2011 |
12 Dec 2011 |
16 Jan 2012 |
16 Apr 2012 |
16 Jul 2012 |
Last month 13 Aug 2012 |
This week 10 Sept 2012 |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Julia Gillard |
50% |
41% |
39% |
39% |
38% |
37% |
36% |
40% |
87% |
4% |
80% |
| Tony Abbott |
27% |
36% |
35% |
36% |
36% |
38% |
38% |
37% |
3% |
76% |
5% |
| Don’t know |
23% |
24% |
26% |
25% |
25% |
26% |
26% |
24% |
10% |
20% |
15% |
Forty percent (40%) of respondents believe that Julia Gillard would make a better Prime Minister than Tony Abbott, up 4% from the last time the question was polled in August 2012. Gillard has resumed the lead on Abbott as preferred Prime Minister, having dropped behind him after April 2012.
There was little change in favour of Abbott, with belief that Abbott would make a better Prime Minister changing just 1% from last month, down to 37%.
This week’s figures are fairly consistent with the results from the beginning of the year (39% in favour of Gillard, 36% in favour of Abbott).
Over the two years since July 2010, belief that Gillard would make a better Prime Minister has dropped 10 points from 50% to 40%, whilst belief that Abbott would make a better Prime Minister has equally increased 10 points from 27% to 37%.
Female respondents were more likely to regard Gillard as the better Prime Minister (44% Gillard / 30% Abbott) whereas male respondents were more likely to regard Abbott as the better Prime Minister (36% Gillard / 44% Abbott).
10 September 2012, 100912, afghanistan, increase troops, keep troops, troops, War on terror, withdraw troops
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
|
21 Jun 2010 |
9 May 2011 |
21 Nov 2011 |
19 Mar 2012 |
This week 10 Sept 2012 |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan |
7% |
6% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
5% |
6% |
3% |
| Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan |
24% |
36% |
22% |
22% |
23% |
23% |
27% |
20% |
| Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan |
61% |
48% |
64% |
64% |
62% |
60% |
58% |
65% |
| Don’t know |
8% |
11% |
11% |
10% |
11% |
12% |
9% |
12% |
There is little change in respondents’ positions on troops in Afghanistan. Compared to the last time the question was polled six months ago in March 2012, 4% still believe that we should increase the number of troops. Belief that we should maintain the same number of troops increased 1% to 23% and belief that we should withdraw troops fell just 2 points from 64% in March 2012 to 62%.
Looking at the results by voting intention, Coalition voters were the most in favour of maintaining troop numbers (27%) compared to Labor voters (23%) and Greens voters (20%). Greens voters were the most likely to want to withdraw troops from Afghanistan (65%) when compared with Labor voters (60%) and Coalition voters (58%).