Q. And which of the following is closest to your view on the best way to create jobs and grow the economy?

• Most Australians’ want the government to directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers (66%), rather than relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs (17%) to create jobs and grow the economy. This is consistent with levels last October (69% and 19% respectively).
• Slightly more people are now unsure which the best approach is (17% from 13% in October).

• The majority of voters of all major parties want the government to directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers.

Q. Which one of the following options is closest to your thinking about what the priority should be of the upcoming budget?

• The majority of Australians think the government should prioritise providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic in the upcoming budget (80%), over the reduction of national debt by cutting public funding for services (20%).
• Preference for providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic is highest among women (84%), those over 55 (87%) and Labor voters (85%).

Q. Which of the following indicators do you think is the most important when thinking about whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state?

• The unemployment rate is still thought to be the top indicator of the state of the Australian economy, with a quarter of Australians (25%) ranking it as most important.
• Cost of household bills (20%), the size of the national deficit (13%) and levels of homelessness (11%) are also seen to be key indicators of the state of the economy.

Q. The Covid-19 vaccine rollout is underway in Australia.

Once a vaccine becomes available to you, how long would you wait before taking it?

• 44% of Australians now say they would get vaccinated as soon as possible or they’ve already been vaccinated (42% in April).
• The proportion of people who say they would get vaccinated but not straight away is unchanged from last month (42%).
• 14% now say they would never get vaccinated.

• Those most likely to get the vaccine immediately or already be vaccinated include men (53%) and those aged over 55 (56%).
• Those voting for independent or minor parties are the most likely to say they would never get vaccinated (18%).

Q. To what extent do you support or oppose the following measures for people entering Australia from India?

• Over half of Australians (56%) support allowing Australian citizens to return from India provided they complete the necessary quarantine procedures when they arrive.
• However, just under half (48%) support banning Australian citizens in India from entering the country due to the risk of Covid-19 transmission and 41% support penalties of $50,000 fine and five years imprisonment for anyone attempting to arrive in Australia from India.

• While support for allowing Australian citizens to return from India provided they complete the necessary quarantine procedures when they arrive is high across age groups, those over 55 are more likely to support this than younger cohorts (62% to 54% and 49% respectively).
• Support for this measure is consistently high across party lines.
• Those 18-34 are much less likely to support banning Australian citizens in India from entering the Australia due to the risk of Covid-19 transmission than older groups (37% to 54% of those 35-54 and 51% of those over 55).

Q. In the past month, diplomatic tensions between Australia and China have increased, with Australia investing $750M to improve Australian Defence Force training facilities in the Northern Territory and Defence Minister Peter Dutton saying that a war with China over Taiwan should not “be discounted”.

To what extent are you concerned about Australia engaging in a military conflict with China in the near future?

• 39% of Australians are concerned about Australia engaging in a military conflict with China in the near future, with 18% extremely concerned. 36% are fairly concerned, and a quarter (25%) are not concerned.
• Those 18-34 are less likely to be concerned about this than older cohorts (31% to 44% of those 35-54 and 41% those over 55).

Q. The Covid-19 vaccine rollout is underway in Australia.

Once a vaccine becomes available to you, how long would you wait before taking it?

• With the rocky start to the nationwide Covid-19 vaccine rollout, 42% of Australians now say they would get vaccinated as soon as possible or they’ve already been vaccinated. This is a drop from last month (47%) and a return to levels at the start of this year / end of last year.
• About the same proportion of people as last month say that would get vaccinated but not straight away (42%).
• 16% now say they would never get vaccinated, the highest proportion since first recording data in August last year.

• Those most likely to get the vaccine immediately or already be vaccinated include men (49%) and those aged over 55 (53%) – however for the latter group this is a notable drop from last month (was 60%).
• Those voting for independent or minor parties are the most likely to say they would never get vaccinated (33%) – another significant increase since last month (20%).

Q. As you may be aware, there are currently two vaccines available in Australia – the Pfizer vaccine and the AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine.

Which of the following is closer to your view?

• 37% would be willing to get either the AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine, however, nearly a third (27%) say they would only be willing to get the Pfizer vaccine. 14% would not be willing to get either vaccine, and 19% are unsure. Only 3% would get the AstraZeneca vaccine but not the Pfizer vaccine.
• Men are much more likely than women to be willing to get either vaccine (48% to 27% respectively); as women are more unsure (25% to 12% men).
• Willingness to get either vaccine increases with age – while 28% of those 18-29 would be willing to receive either vaccine, this increases to 61% of those 70 and over.
• Coalition voters are more likely to get either vaccine (47% to 35% Labor, 32% Greens and 31% minor and independent party voters).
• Despite the recommendation against the AstraZeneca vaccine only applying to under 50s, those 50-69 are on par with those under 50 in terms of their willingness to get the Pfizer vaccine but not the AstraZeneca vaccine. The proportion of those who would only be willing to get the Pfizer vaccine and not the AstraZeneca vaccine is consistent across all age groups under 70 – 26% of those 18-29, 29% of those 30-49, 29% of those 50-69 compared to 16% of those 70 and over would be willing to get the Pfizer vaccine only.