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  • Oct, 2020

    Federal Budget expectations

    Q. The Federal Budget was announced on Tuesday 6th October.

    In general, do you think the Federal Budget will be good or bad for the following?

      Before budget announced

    05/10/2020

    		   After budget announced

    19/10/2020
      NET: Very Good / Good NET: Very bad / Bad   NET: Very Good / Good NET: Very bad / Bad
    People who are well off 51% 10%   56% 7%
    The economy overall 34% 32%   41% 19%
    Average working people 30% 34%   40% 21%
    Australian families 33% 29%   41% 18%
    People on lower incomes 30% 40%   35% 31%
    Older Australians 31% 34%   29% 31%
    Younger Australians 29% 33%   42% 20%
    You personally 25% 31%   27% 24%
    Small business 44% 23%   45% 17%
    Big business 53% 12%   55% 6%
    • Following the budget, more people than before thought the announcements would be good for the economy overall (41%, up from 34% before the budget), average working Australians (40% from 30% expectation), and young people (42% from 29%).
  • Oct, 2020

    Federal Budget: Balance of interests between different groups

    Q. To the best of your knowledge, did the Federal Budget put the interests of each of the groups ahead of the other, or was there a balance?

    Men and women Total
    This budget puts the interests of men ahead of the interests of women 31%
    This budget puts the interests of women ahead of the interests of men 14%
    This budget was balanced between women and men 54%
    Base (n) 1,082

     

    Young people and older people Total
    This budget puts the interests of young people ahead of the interests of older people 45%
    This budget puts the interests of older people ahead of the interests of young people 21%
    This budget was balanced between the young and the old 34%
    Base (n) 1,082

     

    Employees and businesses Total
    This budget puts the interests of employees ahead of the interests of businesses 14%
    This budget puts the interests of businesses ahead of the interests of employees 42%
    This budget was balanced between businesses and employees 45%
    Base (n) 1,082
    • While the majority thought the budget was balanced between the interests of men and women (54%), over twice as many people thought the interests of men were put ahead of women, than women above men (31% to 14%).
    • Most felt the interests of younger Australians were put ahead of older Australians (45%). 34% thought it was balanced and 21% thought the interests of older Australians were prioritised.
    • Most felt the budget was balanced between the interests of businesses and employees (45%), with 42% thinking that business interests were prioritised, and 14% thinking employee interests were prioritised.
  • Oct, 2020

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    Federal Budget and post Covid-19 economic recovery

    Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the recent Federal Budget and the direction for the country to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic?

      TOTAL:

    Agree

    		 TOTAL:

    Disagree

    		 Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree, nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Unsure
    The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy 75% 5% 43% 33% 13% 3% 2% 7%
    The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not 70% 5% 36% 34% 17% 4% 2% 8%
    There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services 51% 10% 20% 31% 29% 8% 2% 11%
    The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control 49% 21% 18% 32% 22% 15% 6% 7%
    • There is strong agreement that the Government is responsible for the future of the economy. 75% agree that ‘The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy’ and 70% of people agree that ‘The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not’
    • However, half of people (49%) agree with the statement that ‘The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control’. Coalition voters are more likely to agree with this statement than Labor voters (58% to 48%).
    • Half of people agree that ‘There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services’ (51%). Those more likely to agree with this statement include Labor voters (60%), those in paid employment (56%) and men (56%).
  • Oct, 2020

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    NBN

    Q. Is your home or workplace connected to the NBN? 

      Is your home connected to the NBN? Is your workplace connected to the NBN? NET: Home or work connected to NBN
    Yes 59% 28% 65%
    No 38% 19% 33%
    Don’t know 3% 15% 2%
    Not applicable – 37% –

     

      Is your home connected to the NBN? Is your workplace connected to the NBN? NET: Home or work connected to NBN
    Yes 76% 34% 79%
    No 20% 10% 19%
    Don’t know 4% 17% 2%
    Not applicable – 38% –
    • Home connection to NBN has increased from 59% in January 2019 to 76%, while workplace connection is now at 34% (previously 28%).
    • Would you say that your NBN internet service is better or worse than your previous service in terms of speed and reliability?

    All people with NBN connection at home/work

      Oct’20 Jan’19
    NET: Better 51% 51%
    NET: Worse 15% 17%
    Much better 24% 24%
    A little better 27% 27%
    About the same 32% 30%
    A little worse 10% 10%
    Much worse 7% 7%
    Don’t know 2% 2%
    •  There has been no improvement to the speed and reliability of NBN over the past two years. Half of people using NBN the service has improved since switching (no change from Jan’19) and a third (32%) there has been no change. 15% report having a worse service since moving to NBN?

    Q. Would you approve or disapprove of privatising the NBN when it is completed in 2020?

        Federal Voting Intention Gender Age    
      Total Labor Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+   Jan’19
    Strongly approve 11% 11% 12% 20% 15% 18% 5% 11% 16% 6%   9%
    Somewhat approve 22% 17% 27% 19% 25% 25% 19% 33% 21% 12%   20%
    Somewhat disapprove 14% 14% 14% 8% 14% 13% 14% 13% 14% 14%   18%
    Strongly disapprove 25% 34% 18% 26% 30% 23% 26% 16% 18% 39%   26%
    Don’t know 29% 24% 30% 28% 15% 21% 36% 27% 31% 29%   27%
    NET: Approve 33% 28% 39% 39% 40% 43% 23% 45% 37% 19%   29%
    NET: Disapprove 38% 48% 31% 34% 45% 36% 40% 29% 32% 52%   44%
    Base (n) 1,082 352 421 84 123 352 555 328 369 385   1,089
    •  A third (33%) approve of privatising the NBN when it is completed in 2020 and 38% disapprove.
    • Labor voters were more likely to disapprove of privatisation (48%) than Coalition voters (31%) and Greens voters (34%).
  • Oct, 2020

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    Coronavirus concerns

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

      05/10 21/09 07/09 24/08 10/08 27/07 13/07 22/06 15/06 08/06 01/06
    Very concerned 30% 36% 37% 40% 50% 43% 36% 25% 28% 27% 32%
    Quite concerned 52% 45% 45% 46% 40% 44% 48% 50% 45% 48% 49%
    Not that concerned 15% 15% 13% 10% 7% 9% 12% 21% 23% 21% 15%
    Not at all concerned 3% 4% 5% 4% 3% 4% 3% 4% 4% 5% 4%
    Base (n) 1,066 1,081 1,076 1,068 1,010 1,058 1,054 1,079 1,087 1,073 1,059
    • Level of concern with Covid-19 has eased this week. 30% are now very concerned (down from 36% in September), with a corresponding increase to those saying they are Quite concerned (45% to 52%).
  • Oct, 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?

      05/10 21/09 07/09 24/08 10/08 27/07 13/07 22/06 15/06 08/06 01/06
    Very poor 5% 5% 8% 6% 7% 6% 6% 4% 3% 4% 5%
    Quite poor 12% 13% 12% 11% 8% 11% 10% 8% 8% 8% 7%
    Neither good, nor poor 22% 21% 22% 22% 21% 20% 20% 17% 16% 18% 20%
    Quite good 39% 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% 43% 42% 40% 39%
    Very good 21% 21% 18% 22% 24% 24% 24% 27% 30% 30% 28%
    TOTAL: Poor 18% 18% 19% 17% 16% 16% 16% 12% 11% 12% 12%
    TOTAL: Good 60% 61% 59% 61% 63% 64% 64% 71% 72% 70% 68%
    Base (n) 1,066 1,081 1,076 1,068 1,010 1,058 1,054 1,079 1,087 1,073 1,059
    • Rating of the Federal Government’s handling of Covid-19 stays steady at 60% rating it very or quite good (59% last month).
  • Oct, 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 05/10 21/09 07/09 24/08 10/08 27/07 13/07 22/06 15/06 08/06 01/06
    NSW 65% 67% 57% 59% 61% 62% 63% 70% 65% 67% 62%
    VIC 45% 47% 50% 47% 49% 53% 49% 65% 75% 72% 71%
    QLD 69% 68% 66% 73% 68% 67% 69% 64% 67% 68% 69%
    SA 81% 81% 74% 65% 72% 76% 79% 79% 76% 79% 70%
    WA 83% 84% 87% 84% 86% 82% 77% 75% 77% 84% 79%
    • Positive rating of the NSW Government was steady this week (65% rating the performance as good, compared to 67% last month).
    • Rating of state government performance was also steady in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
  • Oct, 2020

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    Federal budget engagement

    Q. How much attention will you pay to the Federal Budget announcements?     

      Total Gender Age Group
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
    No attention at all 6% 5% 7% 8% 6% 4%
    Not much attention 18% 18% 18% 32% 15% 10%
    A little attention 42% 38% 45% 43% 45% 38%
    A lot of attention 34% 39% 29% 17% 34% 48%
    Base (n) 1,066 531 535 340 341 385
    • Most people will be following the budget announcement on Tuesday with 34% saying they will pay a lot of attention, and 42% paying a little attention.
    • Men (39% paying a lot of attention) and older people (48%) will be most likely to closely follow the announcements.
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