Christmas, Christmas spending, credit, Credit Card Debt, Credit Cards, credit rating, debt, finances, income
Q. How much of your Christmas spending do you put on your credit cards?
| All or most of it | 23% |
| A bit more than half | 7% |
| About half | 9% |
| A bit less than half | 5% |
| Not much | 17% |
| None of it | 37% |
| Don’t know | 3% |
39% say they will put at least half their Christmas spending on credit cards – and a further 22% will put some spending on their credit cards.
Those most likely to use credit cards for at least half their spending were aged 25-34 (49%) and those least likely to use credit cards for Christmas spending were aged 18-24 (22%). Those on higher incomes were much more likely to use their credit cards for Christmas spending – 54% of those on incomes over $1,600pw said they would put at least half on credit cards compared to only 18% of those on incomes under $600pw.
41% of those who say they are very concerned about their level of credit card debt and 54% of those who are somewhat concerned say they will put at least half their Christmas spending on credit cards.
credit, Credit Card Debt, Credit Cards, credit rating, debt, finances, income
Q. How concerned are you about the amount you currently owe on your credit cards?
| Very concerned | 11% |
| Somewhat concerned | 16% |
| Not very concerned | 27% |
| Don’t owe anything on credit cards | 44% |
| Don’t know | 1% |
27% say they are very or somewhat concerned about the amount they owe on their credit cards. Those most concerned were aged 35-44 (35%) and full-time workers (35%). There was little difference across income groups.
12% of those who intend to put more than half their Christmas spending on credit cards say they are very concerned about their current credit card debt and 23% are somewhat concerned.
member groups, Membership, organisational membership, Polling, polls, Religion, sports club, trade union, unions
Q. Which of the following types of organisations have you ever been a member of?
Q. Which of the following types of organisations are you currently a member of?
Q. And which of the following types of organisations have you joined in the last 12 months?
| Ever been a member | Currently a member | Joined in last 12 months | |
| Trade union | 34% | 9% | 2% |
| Professional organization | 28% | 13% | 3% |
| Environment group | 9% | 4% | 2% |
| Religion/church | 31% | 13% | 2% |
| Book club | 14% | 4% | 1% |
| Service organisation like Rotary, Lions, Apex, etc | 9% | 4% | 1% |
| School organisation e.g. parents club, school council | 22% | 4% | 2% |
| Sports club | 38% | 17% | 6% |
| Political party | 6% | 1% | * |
| Local community group | 21% | 11% | 3% |
| Special interest or hobby group e.g. gardening, birdwatching, chess, etc | 20% | 10% | 3% |
| Other organisation | 9% | 6% | 1% |
| Total members | 81% | 56% | 20% |
56% say they are currently members of an organisation and 20% say they have joined an organisation in the last 12 months. The most popular types of organisations are sports clubs (17% members) religions/churches (13%) and professional organisations (13%). Membership of organisations is slightly lower for those aged under 35 (53%) and a little higher for those aged 55+ (58%). 59% of men and 53% of women say they are members of an organisation.
2PP, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, two party preferred, voting, Voting intention
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
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 44% | 44% | 46% | 45% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 47% | 47% | 48% | 48% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 34% | 35% | 34% | 34% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 11% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 9% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 55% | 54% | 55% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 45% | 46% | 44% | 46% |
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.
Barack Obama, ER, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, Obama, Obama Visit, PM, poll, Polling, Prime Minister, US President
Q. How would you rate the performance of the Prime Minister Julia Gillard during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total good | 38% | 76% | 16% | 51% |
| Total poor | 23% | 2% | 42% | 10% |
| Very good | 12% | 36% | 2% | 6% |
| Good | 26% | 40% | 14% | 45% |
| Average | 31% | 18% | 37% | 32% |
| Poor | 8% | – | 15% | 5% |
| Very poor | 15% | 2% | 27% | 5% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 3% | 5% | 7% |
Overall, the Prime Minister’s performance during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama was rated positively.
38% rated her performance during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama as good and 23% rated it poor. 31% thought it was average.
76% of Labor voters and 51% of Greens voters rated it good, while 42% of Liberal/National voters rated it poor and 37% rated it as average.
43% of women rated her performance goods compared to 33% of men.
Barack Obama, ER, Essential Report, Obama, Obama Visit, Opposition leader, poll, Polling, tony abbott, US President
Q. How would you rate the performance of the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott during recent visit by US President Barack Obama?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total good | 18% | 9% | 31% | 2% |
| Total poor | 30% | 49% | 9% | 54% |
| Very good | 4% | 2% | 7% | – |
| Good | 14% | 7% | 24% | 2% |
| Average | 37% | 32% | 46% | 26% |
| Poor | 14% | 17% | 7% | 24% |
| Very poor | 16% | 32% | 2% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 15% | 10% | 13% | 17% |
Overall, the Opposition Leader’s performance during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama was rated negatively.
18% rated his performance during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama as good and 30% rated it poor. 37% thought it was average.
Liberal/National voters were more likely to rate it as average (46%) – only 31% rated it good.
There was little difference between the ratings of men and women.
ER, Essential Report, mineral exports, Mineral Resource Rent Tax, mineral resources, minerals exports, Mining Boom, mining profits, poll, Polling
Q. How much do the following groups benefit from the current boom in Australia’s mineral exports?
| Benefit a lot | Some benefit | A little benefit | No benefit | Don’t know | |
| Mining company executives | 68% | 10% | 5% | 3% | 14% |
| Mining company shareholders | 48% | 28% | 7% | 3% | 14% |
| Foreign companies | 42% | 25% | 8% | 3% | 23% |
| Federal government | 37% | 35% | 10% | 2% | 15% |
| State governments | 31% | 38% | 12% | 2% | 16% |
| Regional communities | 12% | 30% | 29% | 10% | 17% |
| All Australians | 11% | 29% | 32% | 13% | 16% |
The main beneficiaries of the current boom in Australia’s mineral exports were thought to be mining company executives (68% benefit a lot), mining company shareholders (48%) and foreign companies (42%). Only 11% thought that all Australians benefit a lot and 12% thought regional communities benefit a lot.
Views were mostly similar across demographics.
Labor voters were a little more likely to think that there was a lot of benefit to all Australians (18%) and mining company shareholders (53%).
Liberal/National voters were a little more likely to think that there was a lot of benefit to State Governments (37%) and the Federal Government (46%).