approval, Approval of Julia Gillard, approval of PM, Gillard, Julia Gillard
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| Kevin Rudd | Julia Gillard | ||||||||
| 31 May | 5 Jul | 19 Jul | 26 Jul | 2 Aug | 9 Aug | 16 Aug | 20 Sep | 18 Oct | |
| Total approve | 41% | 48% | 52% | 49% | 46% | 45% | 46% | 45% | 45% |
| Total disapprove | 47% | 27% | 30% | 33% | 38% | 40% | 40% | 37% | 37% |
| Strongly approve | 7% | 14% | 11% | 12% | 10% | 13% | 13% | 12% | 10% |
| Approve | 34% | 34% | 41% | 37% | 36% | 32% | 33% | 33% | 36% |
| Disapprove | 25% | 13% | 17% | 19% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 21% | 20% |
| Strongly disapprove | 22% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 26% | 18% | 17% | 15% | 15% | 13% | 19% | 18% |
45% approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 37% disapprove – showing no change from last months ratings.
89% of Labor voters approve and 3% disapprove.
By gender – men 45% approve/41% disapprove, women 45% approve/35% disapprove. Comments »
Abbott, approval, Approval of opposition leader, tony abbott
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| 18 Jan | 22 Feb | 29 Mar | 3 May | 31 May | 5 Jul | 2 Aug | 16 Aug | 20 Sep | 18 Oct | |
| Total approve | 37% | 45% | 33% | 39% | 35% | 37% | 38% | 41% | 43% | 39% |
| Total disapprove | 37% | 36% | 50% | 43% | 50% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 37% | 45% |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 12% | 8% | 5% | 5% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 12% | 8% |
| Approve | 32% | 33% | 25% | 34% | 30% | 29% | 30% | 32% | 31% | 31% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 20% | 28% | 24% | 28% | 23% | 27% | 22% | 21% | 22% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 16% | 22% | 19% | 22% | 24% | 21% | 22% | 16% | 23% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 16% | 16% | 14% | 15% | 19% | 17% |
39% (down 4%) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 45% (up 8%) disapprove – a shift from a net rating of +6% to -6%.
74% (down 5%) of Coalition voters approve and 13% (up 6%) disapprove.
By gender – men 40% approve/47% disapprove, women 37% approve/41% disapprove. Comments »
Abbott, Gillard, Julia Gillard, preferred PM, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 10 | 19 Jul 10 | 26 Jul 10 | 2 Aug 10 | 9 Aug 10 | 16 Aug 10 | 20 Sep 10 | 18 Oct 10 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott21 Jun 10 | ||
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 50% | 51% | 48% | 45% | 46% | 47% | 49% | 92% | 9% | 81% | 47% | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 27% | 26% | 30% | 33% | 35% | 35% | 33% | 2% | 75% | 4% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 21% | 23% | 23% | 22% | 21% | 19% | 18% | 17% | 6% | 16% | 15% | 23% |
49% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 33% prefer Tony Abbott – a widening of the gap from 12% to 16% since last month’s figures. This is the largest gap since the 2 August survey.
Men favour Julia Gillard over Tony Abbott 50%/34% and women 49%/33%. Comments »
economic conditions, economy, management of the economy
Q. Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same?
| 1 Dec 08 | 15 Jun 09 | 5 Oct 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 29 Mar 10 | 28 Jun 10 | 18 Oct 10 | |
| Total better | 21% | 43% | 66% | 53% | 54% | 33% | 40% |
| Total worse | 61% | 37% | 15% | 19% | 19% | 31% | 30% |
| Get a lot better | 2% | 5% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 5% | 6% |
| Get a little better | 19% | 38% | 58% | 44% | 45% | 28% | 34% |
| Get a little worse | 45% | 28% | 11% | 14% | 13% | 23% | 20% |
| Get a lot worse | 16% | 9% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 8% | 10% |
| Stay much the same | 13% | 17% | 15% | 24% | 22% | 30% | 24% |
| No opinion | 5% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 6% | 7% | 6% |
40% think economic conditions in Australia will get better over the next 12 months and 30% think they will get worse – a net improvement of 8% since this question was last asked in June.
Younger people are more optimistic than older people – of those aged under 35, 50% think conditions will get better and 20% worse.
54% of Labor voters think conditions will get better and 15% worse while 32% of Coalition voters think conditions will get better and 42% worse. Comments »
economic conditions, economy, Personal financial situation
Q. Over the next 12 months do you think your personal financial situation will get better, get worse or stay much the same?
| 29 Mar 10 | 28 Jun 10 | 18 Oct 10 | |
| Total better | 40% | 29% | 33% |
| Total worse | 23% | 31% | 29% |
| Get a lot better | 8% | 5% | 6% |
| Get a little better | 32% | 24% | 27% |
| Get a little worse | 17% | 21% | 21% |
| Get a lot worse | 6% | 10% | 8% |
| Stay much the same | 33% | 37% | 32% |
| No opinion | 4% | 4% | 5% |
33% think their own personal financial situation will get better over the next 12 months and 29% worse – 32% think they will stay much the same.
This is a little more optimistic than the June result – an increase from net -2% to +4%.
Among full-time workers 41% think their situation will get better and 27% worse while those who are not working are more pessimistic – 27% better/32% worse/36% much the same. Comments »
economic conditions, economy, job security
Q. How concerned are you that you or some member of your immediate family will lose their job in the next year or so: very concerned, somewhat concerned, or not at all concerned?
| 16 Feb 09 | 27 Apr 09 | 8 Jun 09 | 5 Oct 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 29 Mar 10 | 28 Jun 10 | 18 Oct 10 | |
| Total concerned | 62% | 67% | 52% | 49% | 45% | 39% | 43% | 40% |
| Very concerned | 22% | 24% | 13% | 14% | 12% | 10% | 9% | 11% |
| Somewhat concerned | 40% | 43% | 39% | 35% | 33% | 29% | 34% | 29% |
| Not at all concerned | 29% | 23% | 35% | 40% | 40% | 45% | 38% | 42% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 12% | 10% |
| No employees in the immediate family | 5% | 5% | 8% | 5% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 7% |
40% were concerned that they or some member of their immediate family will lose their job in the next year or so and 42% were not at all concerned – a net positive movement of 7% since the last survey in June.
Full-time workers (40% concerned/48% not concerned) were more optimistic than part-time workers (53% concerened/37% not concerned). Comments »
climate change, environment, Greenhouse gases, loss of native habitat, Pollution, protecting the environment, quality water supply, Water
Q. Which of these do you think is the most important environmental problem facing Australia today?
Q. And which would you say is the second most important?
| Most important | Second most important | Total | |
| Water supply | 33% | 20% | 53% |
| The health of rivers and waterways | 17% | 21% | 38% |
| Pollution | 14% | 17% | 31% |
| Climate change | 16% | 14% | 30% |
| Loss of native habitat | 8% | 11% | 19% |
| Logging of native forests | 4% | 8% | 12% |
| Greenhouse gases | 2% | 6% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 6% | 2% | 6% |
Water supply (53%) and the health of rivers and waterways (38%) were considered the most important environmental problems facing Australia today.
Younger respondents were more likely to nominate climate change (36% of aged under 45) while 47% of those aged 45+ nominated the health of rivers and waterways. Water supply was the top issue for all segments except Green voters who nominated climate change as their most important issue (51%).
Murray Darling Basin, Water, Water allocation
Q. The Murray-Darling system is in crisis because for decades state governments have allocated too much water from the river for irrigation, affecting the environment and communities further down the river. Which of the following Government actions do you most support?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Leave existing water allocations in place | 17% | 14% | 24% | 6% |
| Purchase water rights from irrigators willing to sell | 36% | 37% | 39% | 34% |
| Compulsorily buy water rights from irrigators and farmers | 17% | 19% | 13% | 36% |
| Don’t know | 29% | 29% | 25% | 24% |
Only 17% believe that existing water allocations in the Murray-Darling system should be maintained and 53% think the Government should buy back water rights either compulsorily (17%) or from irrigators willing to sell (36%).
Support for maintaining existing allocations was a little higher among Liberal voters (24%). Among Greens voters 36% support compulsorily buying rights and 34% support buying rights from irrigators willing to sell. Comments »