Parental leave policy
Q. The Opposition leader Tony Abbott has proposed a scheme to give new parents 26 weeks leave at their normal rate of pay to be paid for by a 1.7 per cent levy on large companies. The Rudd Government plans to introduce a scheme to give new parents 18 weeks leave at the minimum wage rate paid for by the Government. Which scheme do you support more?
| % | |
| The Government’s scheme | 40% |
| The Opposition’s scheme | 24% |
| Neither | 27% |
| Don’t know | 10% |
40% of respondents supported the Government parent leave scheme, 24% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 27% supported neither.
Among labor voters, 61% supported the Government scheme and 15% supported the Opposition’s. However, only 37% of Coalition voters supported the Opposition’s scheme – 20% supported the Government scheme and 35% supported neither.
Young people were more likely to support the Opposition’s scheme – of those aged under 35, 35% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 39% the Government’s. Older respondents were more likely to support neither scheme – of those aged 45-64, 36% supported neither scheme, 42% the Government scheme and 14% the Opposition’s. Men and women showed similar levels of support. Comments »
Attributes of the Labor Party
Q. Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various political parties. Which statements do you feel fit the Labor Party?
| 6 Jul 09 | 14 Mar 10
|
% change | |
| Moderate | 65% | 63% | -2% |
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 57% | 63% | +6% |
| Looks after the interests of working families | 61% | 57% | -4% |
| Professional in its approach | 59% | 55% | -4% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 62% | 54% | -8% |
| Has a good team of leaders | 60% | 52% | -8% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 44% | 48% | +4% |
| Too dominated by its leader | 39% | 45% | +6% |
| Divided | 30% | 36% | +6% |
| Keeps its promises | 44% | 33% | -11% |
| Extreme | 25% | 26% | +1% |
The Labor Party’s main attributes were being moderate (63%), will promise anything to win votes (63%), looks after the interests of working families (57%) and professional in its approach (55%).
Since these questions were last asked in July 2009, most of Labor’s positive attributes have declined a little and the negative attributes increased. Main changes since last July were keeps its promises (down 11% to 33%), has a good team of leaders (down 8% to 52%) and understands the problems facing Australia (down 8% to 54%).
Note that the 2PP voting intention for 6 July 2009 was 59%-41% compared to the current 56%-44%. Comments »
Attributes of the Liberal Party
Q. And which statements do you feel fit the Liberal Party?
| 6 July 09 | 14 Mar 10
|
% change | |
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 67% | 72% | +5% |
| Divided | 74% | 66% | -8% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 62% | 58% | -4% |
| Moderate | 50% | 50% | – |
| Professional in its approach | 41% | 47% | +6% |
| Too dominated by its leader | 34% | 44% | +10% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 44% | 43% | -1% |
| Extreme | 36% | 38% | +2% |
| Looks after the interests of working families | 31% | 35% | +4% |
| Has a good team of leaders | 29% | 31% | +2% |
| Keeps its promises | 28% | 23% | -5% |
The Liberal Party’s main attributes were – will promise anything to win votes (72%), divided (66%) and out of touch with ordinary people (58%).
Main changes since last July were – too dominated by its leader (up 10% to 44%), divided (down 8% to 66%) and professional in its approach (up 6% to 47%). Comments »
Party Attributes Comparison
| Labor | Liberal
|
% difference | |
| Looks after the interests of working families | 57% | 35% | +22% |
| Has a good team of leaders | 52% | 31% | +21% |
| Moderate | 63% | 50% | +13% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 54% | 43% | +11% |
| Keeps its promises | 33% | 23% | +10% |
| Professional in its approach | 55% | 47% | +8% |
| Too dominated by its leader | 45% | 44% | +1% |
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 63% | 72% | -9% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 48% | 58% | -10% |
| Extreme | 26% | 38% | -12% |
| Divided | 36% | 66% | -30% |
The Labor Party maintains significant leads over the Liberal Party on all positive attributes – in particular, looks after the interest of working families (+22%), has a good team of leaders (+21%), moderate (+11%), understands the problems facing Australia (+11%) and keeps its promises (+10).
The Liberal Party is more likely to be considered divided (-30%), extreme (-12%) and out of touch with ordinary people (-10%). Comments »
Media usage
Q. How frequently do you read, listen to or watch the following?
| Daily | Several times a week | About once a week | Less often | Never | Don’t know | |
| Commercial TV news and current affairs | 48% | 27% | 12% | 8% | 5% | 1% |
| News and opinion in daily newspapers | 26% | 22% | 24% | 16% | 11% | 1% |
| Commercial radio news and current affairs | 24% | 22% | 13% | 20% | 19% | 1% |
| News and opinion websites | 23% | 22% | 17% | 19% | 17% | 2% |
| ABC TV news and current affairs | 19% | 21% | 18% | 23% | 18% | 1% |
| ABC radio news and current affairs | 15% | 13% | 10% | 28% | 33% | 2% |
| Commercial radio talkback programs | 13% | 12% | 12% | 26% | 36% | 1% |
| ABC radio talkback programs | 8% | 10% | 10% | 26% | 45% | 2% |
| Internet blogs | 6% | 9% | 13% | 29% | 41% | 3% |
Commercial TV news and current affairs was the most used news and opinion media (48% watch daily). 26% read newspapers daily, 24% commercial radio news and current affairs and 23% news and opinion websites.
Newspapers tend to be read more by older people (38% of 65+ years read daily). 65% of those aged 55+ watch commercial TV news and current affairs daily. Internet news and opinion websites have similar patterns of usage across age groups but internet bogs are mostly used by those aged under 35 (10% daily) Comments »
Trust in media
Q. How much trust do you have in what you read or hear in the following media?
| A lot | Some | Not much | None | Don’t know/use | |
| ABC TV news and current affairs | 25% | 45% | 14% | 3% | 13% |
| ABC radio news and current affairs | 20% | 42% | 15% | 4% | 19% |
| Commercial TV news and current affairs | 9% | 55% | 26% | 5% | 5% |
| News and opinion in daily newspapers | 9% | 53% | 26% | 4% | 7% |
| Commercial radio news and current affairs | 7% | 47% | 29% | 6% | 10% |
| ABC radio talkback programs | 6% | 39% | 24% | 5% | 25% |
| News and opinion websites | 5% | 44% | 31% | 6% | 15% |
| Commercial radio talkback programs | 3% | 35% | 32% | 11% | 19% |
| Internet blogs | 2% | 18% | 40% | 15% | 25% |
ABC TV and radio news and current affairs were the most trusted media (25% and 20% respectively have a lot of trust).
Commercial TV news and current affairs programs have the highest consumption, but only 9% say they have a lot of trust in them.
And although consumption of newspapers and internet news sites is very similar, newspapers are considered more trustworthy (62% compared to 49% have a lot/some trust in them). Comments »
Federal politics – voting intention
Q. If there was a Federal election held today, to which party would you probably give your first preference?
Q. If you ‘don’t know’ on the above question, which party are you currently leaning to?
*1816 sample size
| 2 week average | % | 2PP | 2PP shift from last week |
| Liberal | 37% | ||
| National | 3% | ||
| Total Lib/Nat | 40% | 47% | +1% |
| Labor | 42% | 53% | -1% |
| Greens | 9% | ||
| Family First | 2% | ||
| Other/Independent | 7% |
NB. The data in the above table is derived from our weekly first preference voting question. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ as their first preference are not included in the results.
* Sample is the culmination of two week’s polling data. Comments »
Attributes to describe Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd?
| 29 June 09 | 7 Dec 09 | 1 March 10 | Difference from Jun 09 | Difference from Dec 09 | |
| Intelligent | 84% | 82% | 82% | -2% | – |
| Hard-working | 83% | 77% | 77% | -6% | – |
| A capable leader | 72% | 69% | 65% | -7% | -4% |
| Demanding | 67% | 60% | 55% | -12% | -5% |
| Arrogant | 46% | 49% | 45% | -1% | -4% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 41% | 45% | 45% | +4% | – |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 67% | 59% | 62% | -5% | +3% |
| Visionary | 49% | 48% | 44% | -5% | -4% |
| Superficial | 40% | 41% | 46% | +6% | +5% |
| Good in a crisis | 60% | 58% | 56% | -4% | -2% |
| Narrow-minded | 32% | 36% | 36% | +4% | – |
| Down to earth | 56% | 55% | 57% | +1% | +2% |
| Too inflexible | 32% | 38% | 38% | +6% | – |
| Complacent | 28% | 38% | 40% | +12% | +2% |
| More honest than most politicians | 47% | 49% | 47% | – | -2% |
| Trustworthy | n/a | 51% | 51% | – | – |
Comparing our June 2009 results with those obtained this week, Rudd has gained points in terms of appearing complacent (+12%), superficial (+6%) and too inflexible (+6%). He has lost the most ground in terms of appearing as demanding (-12%), a capable leader (-7%) and hard-working (-6%).
Comparing this week’s results with those obtained in December 2009, Rudd has gained the most ground in terms of appearing superficial (+5%) and lost the most ground in terms of appearing demanding (-5%), arrogant (-4%), visionary (-4%) and as a capable leader (-4%). Comments »
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Better leadership during Covid-19 – PM vs state leader
- Attitudes towards Craig Kelly controversy and Scott Morrison’s leadership
- Views towards federal vs state government responsibility to manage Covid-19 hotel quarantine system
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