Q. How important for Australia do you think it is for the new Labor Government to move quickly to implement an emissions trading scheme or some other scheme (such as a tax on carbon) to address climate change?

37% of people think it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

54% of Labor voters, compared with 20% of Lib/Nat voters think it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change. 72% of Green voters think it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

48% of those aged 18-24, compared with 26% of those aged 65+ it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

42% of Victorians, compared with 30% of Queenslanders it is very important to implement an ETS or other scheme to address climate change.

There was no significant difference between the genders.

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US Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich was first up, and with him his security detail – two clean-cut, serious, suited dudes scanning the room during Bleich’s presentation on the Obama presidential campaign’s pioneering use of social media.

The dudes didn’t have much to worry about with this crowd, the only real and present dangers being excessively snarky tweets or a tussle over an ipad charger.

The Media 140 ‘Oz Politics’ conference at Old Parliament House last week brought together Twitter commentators, activists, journalists, academics and politicians, collectively known as the #politicotragicmediawankersphere.

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I was once called a ‘Fringe Dweller’.

I was making a rare appearance for Lindisfarne first grade in the Tasmanian Cricket Association.  We had a strong team, with several State players, and would play in the finals the following week.  But we lacked depth – which was why I managed to sneak into the first eleven every now and then.

“I can’t believe we’re getting beaten by Lindisfarne,” ‘an ignorant North Hobart supporter was overheard saying on that fateful day.

“They’ve got some good players, but Prins and Pickett are just Fringe Dwellers.”

The insult cut deep.  We lost our semi-final, and I immediately retired from grade cricket.  Sadly, no one really noticed, and my retirement went unreported in the Hobart media.

(Ironically, the Hobart Mercury did report that I was a ‘debutant’ on at least five separate occasions.  Apparently I never made much of an impression on the local cricket writer).

But now, I can finally revel in my status as a Fringe Dweller – because Fringe Dwellers are about to strike back.

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Dear Journalist. Our annual trade conference for X will be held on X at X. Snooze and delete.

When the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS) approached EMC with a request to generate media interest in their annual conference, there was some hesitation. Agencies had not delivered the results the Society had hoped for in the past.

The first step was to do the hard yards, and sift through the presentations and papers of dozens of conference speakers, until we identified a handful of market research papers that were topical and contained unreleased stories we could pitch as new and therefore newsworthy.

The stories were there, and when we pre-interviewed the Presenters, mostly market researchers, we found that they were good ‘talent’ for journalists; chatty, confident and positive. Comments »

First Published on The Punch 21/09/2010

Sometimes a response to a polling question comes along that makes you re-evaluate your preconceived ideas, where the public’s refusal to confirm your gut instincts forces you to have a fresh look at the evidence before you.

Spot the popular people in this photo. Pic: Gary Ramage

Asking people to cast stones at the media’s reporting of the federal election seemed like a simple enough exercise, the public would confirm the media did a poor job and we could all wring our hands about democracy once again denied.

But hold the presses. Something is amiss. Fewer than a quarter of respondents to the Essential Report join the party.  One third rate the coverage at election time ‘good’, a further 40 per cent ‘average’. And far more say the media ‘gave fair coverage of all parties’ than thought they favoured a particular side.

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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?

2,073 sample size

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 2007 election.

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Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

45% approve Julia Gillard’s performance as Prime Minister and 37% disapprove. Since this question was asked last month, approval has decreased by 1% and disapproval decreased by 3%. 92% of Labor voters approve and only 1% disapprove. Among Liberal/National voters, 10% approve and 75% disapprove.

By gender – men 42% approve/42% disapprove and women 46% approve/32% disapprove.

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Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?

43% approve Tony Abbott’s performance as Opposition Leader and 37% disapprove. Since this question was asked last month, approval has increased by 2% and disapproval decreased by 7%. 79% of Liberal/National voters approve and 7% disapprove. Among Labor voters, 18% approve and 67% disapprove.

By gender – men 48% approve/37% disapprove and women 37% approve/38% disapprove.

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