Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Malcolm Turnbull | Tony Abbott | |||||||
| 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 22 Feb 10 | 29 Mar 10 | 3 May 10 | 31 May 10 | 28 Jun 10 | |
| Total approve | 25% | 34% | 37% | 45% | 33% | 39% | 35% | 40% |
| Total disapprove | 55% | 36% | 37% | 36% | 50% | 43% | 50% | 39% |
| Strongly approve | 2% | 7% | 5% | 12% | 8% | 5% | 5% | 9% |
| Approve | 23% | 27% | 32% | 33% | 25% | 34% | 30% | 31% |
| Disapprove | 33% | 18% | 20% | 20% | 28% | 24% | 28% | 20% |
| Strongly disapprove | 22% | 18% | 17% | 16% | 22% | 19% | 22% | 19% |
| Don’t know | 19% | 31% | 26% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 16% | 20% |
Tony Abbott has achieved a net positive approval rating for the first time since February – 40% approve (up 5%) and 39% disapprove (down 11%).
83% Liberal/National voters approved of Tony Abbott and 11% disapproved. Comments »
Q. The next Federal election can be held any time up to April next year. When do you think the next Federal election should be held?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| In the next 2 or 3 months | 28% | 18% | 43% | 16% |
| Towards the end of the year | 41% | 45% | 41% | 42% |
| Early next year | 21% | 26% | 13% | 39% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 11% | 3% | 3% |
41% said their preferred timing for the next election was towards the end of the year and 28% preferred the election to be held in the next 2 or 3 months. Labor voters were more likely to prefer an election towards the end of the year (45%) but 43% of Liberal/National voters wanted it in the next 2 or 3 months. Comments »
Greens, Labor, Liberal, National, parental leave
Q. The Federal Government has recently passed legislation for paid parental leave which provides parents with 18 weeks of paid leave at the minimum wage of $543 a week. Do you approve or disapprove of this decision?
| Total approve | 55% |
| Total disapprove | 33% |
| Strongly approve | 21% |
| Approve | 34% |
| Disapprove | 18% |
| Strongly disapprove | 15% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
55% approved the Government’s paid parental leave scheme and 33% dispproved. Support was weaker among Liberal/National voters – 48% approve/43% disapprove. Labor voters split 64%/29% and Greens 68%/23%.
Younger respondent were much more supportive than older respondents – among those aged under 35, 75% approved and 9% disapproved.
41% of those aged 55+ approved and 53% disapproved. Women (58%/32%) were a little more supportive than men (53%/35%). Comments »
government, mining, RSPT, tax
Q. Which of the following approaches do you think the Government should take in their dispute with the mining companies over the proposed resources super profits tax?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Proceed with the tax as planned | 11% | 17% | 4% | 17% |
| Compromise a little and make minor changes to the tax | 35% | 52% | 18% | 62% |
| Compromise a lot and make major changes to the tax | 26% | 20% | 41% | 7% |
| Not proceed with the tax in any form | 14% | 3% | 30% | 5% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 8% | 7% | 8 |
Nearly half the respondents (46%) believe that the Government should proceed with the resources super profits tax unchanged or with minor changes. Only 14% oppose that tax in any form and 26% think the Government should make major changes to the tax.
69% of Labor voters want the tax to proceed unchanged or with minor changes as does 79% of Greens voters. 41% of Liberal/National voters want major changes and 30% do not want the tax in any form. Comments »
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 | |
| Total better | 21% | 43% | 66% | 53% | 54% | 33% |
| Total worse | 61% | 37% | 15% | 19% | 19% | 31% |
| Get a lot better | 2% | 5% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 5% |
| Get a little better | 19% | 38% | 58% | 44% | 45% | 28% |
| Get a little worse | 45% | 28% | 11% | 14% | 13% | 23% |
| Get a lot worse | 16% | 9% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 8% |
| Stay much the same | 13% | 17% | 15% | 24% | 22% | 30% |
| No opinion | 5% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 6% | 7% |
Respondents were divided over whether the economy will get better or worse over the next 12 months – 33% (down 21%) think it will get better and 31% (up 12%) worse. 30% (up 8%) think it will stay much the same.
This is a considerable negative shift from the results over the last 12 months. Men (38% better/29% worse) were somewhat more optimistic than women (28%/32%) Comments »
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 | |
| Total better | 40% | 29% |
| Total worse | 23% | 31% |
| Get a lot better | 8% | 5% |
| Get a little better | 32% | 24% |
| Get a little worse | 17% | 21% |
| Get a lot worse | 6% | 10% |
| Stay much the same | 33% | 37% |
| No opinion | 4% | 4% |
Respondents were similarly divided over whether their personal financial situation will get better or worse over the next 12 months – 29% (down 11%) think it will get better and 31% (up 8%) worse. 37% (up 4%) think it will stay much the same. Although this represents a significant negative shift, it is not as big a shift as the overall economic outlook from the previous question.
Men (32% better/25% worse) were more optimistic than women (25%/35%). Optimism was also higher for upper income groups – those earning over $1,600 pw split 42% better/23% worse while those earning under $1,000 pw split 18% better/36% worse. Comments »
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 | |
| Total concerned | 62% | 67% | 52% | 49% | 45% | 39% | 43% |
| Very concerned | 22% | 24% | 13% | 14% | 12% | 10% | 9% |
| Somewhat concerned | 40% | 43% | 39% | 35% | 33% | 29% | 34% |
| Not at all concerned | 29% | 23% | 35% | 40% | 40% | 45% | 38% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 12% |
| No employees in the immediate family | 5% | 5% | 8% | 5% | 8% | 9% | 7% |
43% were very or somewhat concerned that someone in their family might lose their job in the next year. This was 4% higher than the March result but lower than previous results over the last 12 months. There were no substantial differences by income. Comments »
Q. Thinking about your personal financial situation, do you agree or disagree with the statement “The economy may be doing well but I am not any better off”?
| Total agree | 69% |
| Total disagree | 22% |
| Strongly agree | 24% |
| Agree | 45% |
| Disagree | 20% |
| Strongly disagree | 2% |
| Don’t know | 8% |
69% agreed with the statement “the economy may be doing well but I am not any better off” and 22% disagreed.
Those most likely to agree were part-time workers (79%), aged 45+ (76%) and those earning less than $600 pw (77%). There were no substantial differences by voting intention. Comments »