Essential Report
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Performance of Anthony Albanese
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Oct’19 | Sep’19 | Aug’19 | Jul’19 | Jun’19 | Mar’19
(Shorten) |
|
| NET: Approve | 40% | 36% | 38% | 39% | 35% | 38% |
| NET: Disapprove | 29% | 31% | 29% | 24% | 25% | 44% |
| Don’t know | 31% | 33% | 33% | 37% | 39% | 18% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | 1,093 | 1,096 | 1,091 | 1,099 | 1,090 |
| Total | Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | NET: Other | ||
| Strongly approve | 7% | 12% | 5% | 7% | 2% |
| Approve | 33% | 44% | 32% | 34% | 22% |
| Disapprove | 21% | 14% | 26% | 19% | 29% |
| Strongly disapprove | 9% | 3% | 15% | 5% | 13% |
| Don’t know | 31% | 27% | 23% | 35% | 33% |
| NET: Approve | 40% | 56% | 37% | 41% | 24% |
| NET: Disapprove | 29% | 17% | 41% | 24% | 42% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | 343 | 380 | 107 | 130 |
- Anthony Albanese has 40% approval as Opposition Leader, but just under one third (31%) don’t know how to rate his performance. More respondents are able to provide a rating on Albanese’s performance now, than when he first took over the position in June, when 29% recorded a response of don’t know .
- Approval with Albanese’s performance is driven by high-income earners (48%), participants with a university education (47%) and males (44%).
Preferred Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would makes the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?
| Oct’19 | Sep’19 | Aug’19 | Jul’19 | Jun’19 | May’19 | Mar’19 | |
| Scott Morrison | 43% | 46% | 44% | 44% | 43% | 39% | 44% |
| Anthony Albanese | 28% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 25% | 32%
(Shorten) |
31%
(Shorten) |
| Don’t know | 29% | 29% | 28% | 31% | 32% | 28% | 26% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | 1,093 | 1,096 | 1,091 | 1,099 | 1,210 | 1,090 |
| Total | Gender | Age | ||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| Scott Morrison | 43% | 48% | 39% | 42% | 40% | 48% |
| Anthony Albanese | 28% | 30% | 25% | 29% | 25% | 29% |
| Don’t know | 29% | 21% | 36% | 29% | 35% | 23% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | 539 | 549 | 342 | 373 | 373 |
- More than two-fifths of participants think that Scott Morrison makes the better PM (43%), which is on par with previous months from June 2019 (from 46% to 43%)
- 29% don’t know who would make the better PM between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.
Performance of Coalition since May’19 election
Q. In the six months since winning the election, how would you rate the performance of the Coalition Government as a whole?
| Total | Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | NET: Other | ||
| Excellent | 7% | 3% | 14% | 3% | 3% |
| Good | 26% | 13% | 48% | 13% | 20% |
| Fair | 30% | 32% | 31% | 30% | 30% |
| Poor | 28% | 45% | 5% | 46% | 38% |
| Unsure | 9% | 6% | 2% | 8% | 9% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | 343 | 380 | 107 | 130 |
- Although just 7% rated the performance of the Coalition as ‘Excellent’ in the 6 months since the election victory, 26% rated it ‘Good’ and a further 30% as ‘Fair’.
- Men (10% to 4% of women) and Coalition voters (14% to 3% or all other voters) were more likely to rate the Coalition Government’s performance as ‘Excellent’.
Performance of Labor since May’19 election
Q. In the six months since winning the election, how would you rate the performance of the Labor opposition in the six months since the election?
| Total | Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | NET: Other | ||
| Excellent | 5% | 8% | 5% | 7% | 2% |
| Good | 19% | 30% | 13% | 22% | 7% |
| Fair | 38% | 45% | 38% | 30% | 36% |
| Poor | 26% | 10% | 37% | 30% | 41% |
| Unsure | 13% | 8% | 7% | 11% | 14% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | 343 | 380 | 107 | 130 |
- Ratings for the performance of the Labor Opposition were broadly in line with the Government, with just 5% rating it as excellent and most rating it as ‘Fair’ (38%).
- Those aged 18-34 were most likely to rate the performance of Labor as ‘Excellent’ (9% to 3% of over 35 year olds).
Attributes of the Liberal Party
Q. Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about Federal political parties. Which statements do you feel fit the Liberal Party?
| Total | Change
(Aug’18) |
Aug’18
(Turnbull) |
Nov’17
(Turnbull) |
|
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 64% | -4 | 68% | 67% |
| Too close to the big corporate and financial interests | 63% | -4 | 67% | 65% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 60% | -9 | 69% | 66% |
| Moderate | 54% | +6 | 48% | 53% |
| Have a vision for the future | 51% | +8 | 43% | 48% |
| Divided | 50% | -29 | 79% | 68% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 49% | +9 | 40% | 41% |
| Clear about what they stand for | 48% | +15 | 33% | 40% |
| Have good policies | 48% | +8 | 40% | 45% |
| Has a good team of leaders | 46% | +15 | 31% | 37% |
| Looks after the interests of working people | 40% | +8 | 32% | 36% |
| Keeps its promises | 40% | +12 | 28% | 32% |
| Trustworthy | 39% | +9 | 30% | 34% |
| Extreme | 35% | -5 | 40% | 37% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | – | 1,035 | 1,025 |
- The Liberal party is perceived as promising to do anything to win votes (64%), too close to the big corporate and financial interests (63%) and out of touch with ordinary people (60%).
- Since August 2018, there have been improved perceptions that the Liberal Party has a good team of leaders (up 15pts, from 31%), are clear about what they stand for (up 15pts, from 33%) and keeps its promises (up 12pts, from 28%).
- Over the same time they are also perceived less as divided (down 29pts, from 79%) and being out of touch with ordinary people (down 9pts, from 69%).
Attributes of the Labor Party
Q. Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about Federal political parties. Which statements do you feel fit the Labor Party?
| Total | Change
(Aug’18) |
Aug’18
(Shorten) |
Nov’17
(Shorten) |
|
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 65% | -5 | 70% | 69% |
| Looks after the interests of working people | 59% | +4 | 55% | 58% |
| Divided | 55% | +9 | 46% | 51% |
| Moderate | 53% | +3 | 50% | 52% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 51% | +3 | 48% | 48% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 51% | – | 51% | 52% |
| Have a vision for the future | 50% | +2 | 48% | 49% |
| Clear about what they stand for | 46% | -1 | 47% | 45% |
| Have good policies | 44% | +1 | 43% | 44% |
| Has a good team of leaders | 42% | +3 | 39% | 39% |
| Too close to the big corporate and financial interests | 41% | +5 | 36% | 42% |
| Extreme | 36% | – | 36% | 41% |
| Trustworthy | 36% | +2 | 34% | 32% |
| Keeps its promises | 35% | +5 | 30% | 31% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | – | 1,035 | 1,025 |
- The Labor party is similarly perceived as promising to do anything to win votes (65%) but also looking after the interests of working people (59%) and divided (55%).
- The perception that Labor is divided has increased since August 2018 by 9pts.
Party Attributes Comparison – Labor vs Liberal
Q. Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about Federal political parties. Which statements do you feel fit the Liberal Party / Labor Party?
| Liberal | Labor | Difference | |
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 64% | 65% | -1 |
| Too close to the big corporate and financial interests | 63% | 41% | +22 |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 60% | 51% | +9 |
| Moderate | 54% | 53% | +1 |
| Have a vision for the future | 51% | 50% | +1 |
| Divided | 50% | 55% | -5 |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 49% | 51% | -2 |
| Clear about what they stand for | 48% | 46% | +2 |
| Have good policies | 48% | 44% | +4 |
| Has a good team of leaders | 46% | 42% | +4 |
| Looks after the interests of working people | 40% | 59% | -19 |
| Keeps its promises | 40% | 35% | +5 |
| Trustworthy | 39% | 36% | +2 |
| Extreme | 35% | 36% | -1 |
- Though Liberal and Labour are similarly seen to promise to do anything to win votes (-1pt difference), the Liberal party has a stronger image as being too close to the big corporate and financial interests (22pt difference) and out of touch with ordinary people (9pt difference), whereas more people think the Labor party looks after the interests of working people (19pt difference)
Leader attributes – Scott Morrison
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison?
| Total | Change (Dec’18) | Dec’18
(Morrison) |
Sep’18
(Morrison) |
|
| Intelligent | 64% | +3 | 61% | 66% |
| Hard-working | 63% | +3 | 60% | 60% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 56% | +2 | 54% | 51% |
| A capable leader | 54% | +5 | 49% | 54% |
| Good in a crisis | 51% | +10 | 41% | 44% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 50% | +4 | 46% | 51% |
| Superficial | 48% | +3 | 45% | 43% |
| Narrow-minded | 47% | +1 | 46% | 41% |
| Arrogant | 44% | +1 | 43% | 38% |
| More honest than most politicians | 44% | +5 | 39% | 38% |
| Trustworthy | 43% | +4 | 39% | 41% |
| Visionary | 42% | +4 | 38% | 39% |
| Intolerant | 41% | +4 | 37% | 36% |
| Aggressive | 37% | +3 | 34% | 34% |
| Erratic | 34% | -2 | 36% | 29% |
| Base (n) | 1,088 | – | 1,026 | 1,050 |
- The attributes mainly associated with Scott Morrison are intelligent (64%) and hard-working (63%) – the same as in December 2018.
- Since last year, Scott Morrison is more likely to be seen to be good in a crisis (increase 10pts from 41% to 51%).
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 14 May 2019
Labor
51.5%-0.5
Coalition
48.5%+0.5
In this week's report:
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