2PP, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, two party preferred, 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 = 1,847
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 46% | 46% | 46% | 46% | |
| National | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6 | 50% | 49% | 49% | 49% |
| Labor | 38.0 | 31% | 32% | 30% | 32% |
| Greens | 11.8 | 10% | 10% | 11% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6 | 9% | 8% | 10% | 10% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 57% | 56% | 57% | 56% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 43% | 44% | 43% | 44% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived 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.
Approval of Julia Gillard, Essential Report, Gillard, Labor, Polling, Prime Minister
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| 19 Jul | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | 11 July | 15 Aug | 12 Sept | |
| Total approve | 52% | 43% | 51% | 48% | 41% | 37% | 41% | 34% | 29% | 35% | 28% |
| Total disapprove | 30% | 40% | 36% | 41% | 46% | 50% | 48% | 54% | 62% | 55% | 64% |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Approve | 41% | 33% | 43% | 39% | 34% | 30% | 34% | 28% | 24% | 29% | 23% |
| Disapprove | 17% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 26% | 29% | 30% | 24% | 28% |
| Strongly disapprove | 13% | 16% | 12% | 16% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 32% | 31% | 36% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 17% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 13% | 9% | 11% | 8% |
After improving last month Julia Gillard’s approval rating has dropped back to a level similar to the July result. 28% (down 7%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 64% (up 9%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -20 to -36 over the last 4 weeks.
66% of Labor voters approve (down 11%) and 26% disapprove (up 13%).
By gender – men 29% approve/65% disapprove, women 27% approve/62% disapprove.
Approval of opposition leader, Approval of Tony Abbott, Essential Report, federal politics, Liberal, Polling, tony abbott
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| 18 Jan
2010 |
5 Jul | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | 11 July | 15 Aug | 12 Sept | |
| Total approve | 37% | 37% | 39% | 42% | 38% | 38% | 36% | 42% | 38% | 39% | 37% | 39% |
| Total disapprove | 37% | 47% | 39% | 37% | 46% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 48% | 49% | 50% | 50% |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 8% |
| Approve | 32% | 29% | 30% | 35% | 30% | 31% | 29% | 34% | 32% | 33% | 29% | 31% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 23% | 21% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 24% | 25% | 23% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 24% | 18% | 15% | 22% | 23% | 23% | 19% | 23% | 25% | 25% | 27% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 16% | 22% | 20% | 16% | 16% | 17% | 14% | 15% | 11% | 13% | 11% |
Tony Abbott’s approval rating has been at a similar level for the past 4 months. 39% (up 2%) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 50% (no change) disapprove – a change in net rating from -13 to -11 over the last 4 weeks.
74% (up 2%) of Coalition voters approve and 18% (down 2%) disapprove.
By gender – men 42% approve/52% disapprove, women 36% approve/48% disapprove.
Approval of opposition leader, approval of PM, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Polling, preferred PM, Prime Minister, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | 11 July | 15 Aug | 12 Sept | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 42% | 43% | 41% | 37% | 38% | 36% | 81% | 5% | 69% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 35% | 36% | 39% | 36% | 40% | 5% | 79% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 26% | 24% | 13% | 16% | 23% |
36% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 40% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Tony Abbott of 6% on last month’s figures (from -2% to +4%).
Men prefer Tony Abbott 43%/37% and women favour Tony Abbott 37%/36%.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, boat people, Essential Report, Polling, Processing Asylum Seekers
Q. Thinking about the issue of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat – do you think they should be processed in Australia or should they be sent to another country for processing?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Process in Australia | 36% | 44% | 27% | 73% |
| Sent to another country | 53% | 44% | 65% | 15% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 12% | 8% | 12% |
53% favour sending asylum seekers to another country for processing and 36% favour processing them in Australia. Liberal/National voters strongly favour sending them to another country (65%), Greens voters strongly favour processing them in Australia (73%) and Labor voters are split (44%/44%).
Respondents aged under 35 are split (43% Australia/41% another country) but older respondents strongly favour processing overseas (aged 55+ = 62% another country/32% Australia).
Essential Report, Federal Government, Gambling Reform, pokie players, pokies, Polling
Q. The Federal Government has proposed gambling reforms which include “pre-commitment” technology that will require pokie players to have a card registered to their name and pre-programmed to prevent them losing more than a set amount in a 24-hour period. Do you support or oppose this measure?
| 18 Apr | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 65% | 67% | 80% | 59% | 78% |
| Total oppose | 21% | 25% | 15% | 34% | 9% |
| Strongly support | 32% | 34% | 44% | 27% | 43% |
| Support | 33% | 33% | 36% | 32% | 35% |
| Oppose | 12% | 13% | 9% | 18% | 7% |
| Strongly oppose | 9% | 12% | 6% | 16% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 9% | 6% | 7% | 12% |
The strong support for the Government’s “pokies” legislation has changed little since this question was last asked in April. 67% support (up 2%) and 21% oppose (up 4%) the proposal.
Voters of all parties support the proposed legislation – although support from Liberal/National voters was somewhat lower at 59%.
Support is strongest from younger respondents – 73% of those aged under 35 support the proposal compared to 66% of those aged 35-54 and 61% of those aged 55+.
employment, Essential Report, Industrial Relations, Polling, productivity
Q. Some business leaders have recently claimed that to increase productivity, industrial relations laws need to be changed to give businesses more flexibility around how they employ workers, including re-introducing individual contracts. Do you agree or disagree?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total agree | 40% | 27% | 59% | 17% |
| Total disagree | 42% | 61% | 24% | 61% |
| Strongly agree | 11% | 6% | 19% | 2% |
| Agree | 29% | 21% | 40% | 15% |
| Disagree | 22% | 29% | 17% | 23% |
| Strongly disagree | 20% | 32% | 7% | 38% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 11% | 17% | 21% |
Opinions about the need for changes to industrial laws to increase productivity were divided. 40% agreed with the need to change IR laws and 42% disagreed. 61% of Labor voters and Greens voters disagreed, while 59% of Liberal/National voters agreed.
Those aged 35-54 tended to disagree (35% agree/47% disagree) while those aged under 35 (40%/34%) and 55+ (48%/42%) were more likely to agree. 46% of full-time workers disagreed and 43% agreed.
books, literacy, Network Ten, Polling
Q. When did you last read a book? (This question was commissioned by Network Ten)
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Age
18-34 |
Aged
35-54 |
Aged 55+ | |
| In the last week | 54% | 52% | 50% | 72% | 43% | 65% | 55% | 50% | 58% |
| More than a week ago but in the last month | 13% | 16% | 13% | 8% | 15% | 11% | 15% | 12% | 11% |
| About one to six months ago | 12% | 14% | 13% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 14% | 9% |
| 6 months to a year ago | 6% | 4% | 7% | 2% | 8% | 3% | 8% | 6% | 3% |
| More than a year ago | 11% | 11% | 14% | 3% | 16% | 7% | 5% | 13% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 7% | 1% | 5% | 4% | 3% |
54% of respondents said they have read a book in that last week, 67% have read within the last month and 29% last read a book more than a month ago.
Women are more frequent readers than men – 65% read a book in the last week compared to 43% of men – and 24% of men have not read a book in the last six months. Those aged 35-54 are less likely to have read a book in the last week that younger or older people.