Abbott, Gillard, Labor, leader, leadership, Liberal
| Julia Gillard | Tony Abbott | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 87% | 70% | +17 |
| Hard-working | 89% | 76% | +13 |
| A capable leader | 72% | 47% | +25 |
| Demanding | 58% | 53% | +5 |
| Arrogant | 37% | 59% | -22 |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 35% | 57% | -22 |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 68% | 50% | +18 |
| Visionary | 48% | 32% | +16 |
| Superficial | 35% | 45% | -10 |
| Good in a crisis | 61% | 40% | +21 |
| Narrow-minded | 28% | 56% | -28 |
| Down to earth | 68% | 47% | +21 |
| Too inflexible | 26% | 45% | -19 |
| Complacent | 27% | 34% | +13 |
| More honest than most politicians | 45% | 33% | +12 |
| Trustworthy | 49% | 33% | +16 |
Julia Gillard is rated substantially higher than Tony Abbott on all positive attributes and lower on negative attributes.
The largest differences are in terms of narrow-minded (-28%), a capable leader (+25%) and arrogant (-22%).
Greens, Labor, Liberal, National, population
Q. It has been estimated that Australia will have a population of 36 million by 2050. Do you think this will be good or bad for Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total good | 16% | 17% | 18% | 16% |
| Total bad | 55% | 50% | 63% | 58% |
| Very good | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Good | 13% | 13% | 15% | 13% |
| Neither good nor bad | 21% | 26% | 15% | 22% |
| Bad | 32% | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Very bad | 23% | 18% | 28% | 22% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 7% | 5% | 4% |
55% believe that having a population of 36 million by 2050 will be bad for Australia – 16% think it will be good for Australia.
The concern about this level of population is fairly similar across voter groups – although Liberal/National voters (63%) are more likely to think it is bad than Labor voters (50%). Comments »
Greens, Labor, Liberal, National, population
Q. On average, Australia’s population increases by about 300,000 per year (less than 2%). Do you think this is too high, too low or about right?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Too high | 48% | 44% | 52% | 59% |
| Too low | 4% | 3% | 6% | 7% |
| About right | 35% | 39% | 35% | 31% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 13% | 6% | 3% |
Nearly half (48%) believe that the current rate of population growth is too high and only 4% think it is too low – 35% think it is about right.
Labor voters are split (44% too high compared to 42% about right or too low), but a majority of Liberal/National voters (52%) and Greens voters (59%) think it is too high.
Essential Report, peter lewis, The Punch
First Published on The Punch 29th June 2010
The Australian public’s reaction to last week’s execution of their Prime Minister came in two courses. The first: “Don’t break the eggs!” The second: “Nice omelette!”
By chance, I was observing focus groups on the night Rudd was rolled and the general feeling was one of surprise, anger, even outage, “it’s our job to throw out a leader, not their’s”, a sense that something fundamentally undemocratic was occurring.
But more remarkable than this emotional reaction, was the fact that it was so fleeting, having vented people who ready to move on and embrace our first female Prime Minister.
This strange dynamic is backed in this week’s Essential Report, which finds 40 per cent of voters disapprove of the takeover, yet finds just 24 per cent say they are less likely to vote Labor because of it. Comments »
2PP, Abbott, Election, essential report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Polling, Prime Minister, rudd, 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?
1,803sample size
| First preference/leaning to | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Liberal | 34% | 39% | 38% | 37% | 36% |
| National | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Total Lib/Nat | 37% | 41% | 41% | 40% | 39% |
| Labor | 47% | 39% | 35% | 38% | 42% |
| Greens | 8% | 9% | 14% | 11% | 9% |
| Family First | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Other/Independent | 6% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 7% |
| 2PP | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Total Lib/Nat | 43% | 49% | 49% | 48% | 46% |
| Labor | 57% | 51% | 51% | 52% | 54% |
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.
* Sample is the aggregation of two weeks’ polling data. Comments »
Gillard, Labor, leader, Prime Minister, rudd
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of Julia Gillard replacing Kevin Rudd as leader of the Labor Party and Prime Minister?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| Total approve | 47% | 68% | 36% |
| Total disapprove | 40% | 23% | 60% |
| Strongly approve | 15% | 27% | 10% |
| Approve | 32% | 41% | 26% |
| Disapprove | 19% | 11% | 26% |
| Strongly disapprove | 21% | 12% | 34% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 9% | 5% |
Sample = 818
47% approved the change from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard as Prime Minister and 40% disapproved. Opinions reflected political party preferences. Labor voters strongly approved the change by 68% to 23% while 60% of Liberal/National voters disapproved and 36% approved. There were no significant differences by gender. However, older respondents were more likely to approve than younger respondents – 55% of those aged 55+ approved and 37% disapproved. Comments »
Election, Gillard, Labor, Polling
Q. Does having Julia Gillard as Prime Minister make you more or less likely to vote for the Labor Party?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total more likely | 26% | 44% | 11% | 31% |
| Total less likely | 24% | 11% | 38% | 22% |
| Much more likely | 10% | 24% | 1% | 5% |
| A bit more likely | 16% | 20% | 10% | 26% |
| A bit less likely | 8% | 8% | 6% | 12% |
| Much less likely | 16% | 3% | 32% | 10% |
| Makes no difference | 41% | 40% | 47% | 40% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 5% | 3% | 7% |
Sample = 818
In aggregate, the results indicate the change will have little impact on voting intentions. 41% say it makes no difference to their vote, 26% say they are more likely to vote Labor and 24% less likely. Among Labor voters 44% say they are more likely to vote Labor and 11% less likely.
Greens voters were overall a little more positive about voting Labor – 31% more likely and 22% less likely. Comments »
Abbott, Gillard, Labor, Prime Minister, rudd
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | 21 Jun 10 | ||
| Julia Gillard | 49% | 86% | 12% | 50% | |
| Tony Abbott | 29% | 4% | 73% | 32% | |
| Don’t know | 22% | 11% | 12% | 18% |
Sample = 818
49% preferred Julia Gillard as Prime Minister and 29% preferred Tony Abbott – similar to the results from last week before Julia Gillard became Prime Minister. This is also slightly better than last week’s result for Kevin Rudd when he was preferred over Tony Abbott by 47% to 30%. Men preferred Julia Gillard 47%/33% and women 51%/25%. Comments »