Q. The Federal Government has announced that it has postponed introducing an emissions trading scheme (ETS) to address climate change for 3 years. Do you approve or disapprove of the Government’s decision not to introduce an ETS for 3 years?
| Total | Labor voters | Lib/Nat voters | Greens voters | |
| Total approve | 38% | 40% | 47% | 21% |
| Total disapprove | 41% | 40% | 37% | 76% |
| Strongly approve | 12% | 9% | 19% | 7% |
| Approve | 26% | 31% | 28% | 14% |
| Disapprove | 27% | 31% | 25% | 30% |
| Strongly disapprove | 14% | 9% | 12% | 46% |
| Don’t know | 22% | 20% | 16% | 4% |
Opinions are divided over the Government postponing a decision on introducing an ETS – 38% approve and 41% disapprove.
Labor voters are evenly split (40% approve/40% disapprove) while Liberal/National voters are a little more likely to approve (47% approve/37% disapprove). 76% of Greens voters disapprove and 21% approve.
46% of men approve (39% disapprove) compared to 31% of women (43% disapprove). Comments »
2PP, Family First, Greens, Labor, Liberal, 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?
1,847 sample size
| First preference/leaning to | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Liberal | 33% | 36% | 37% | 36% |
| National | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| Total Lib/Nat | 36% | 39% | 39% | 39% |
| Labor | 50% | 43% | 42% | 42% |
| Greens | 8% | 9% | 11% | 9% |
| Family First | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Other/Independent | 5% | 7% | 7% | 7% |
| 2PP | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Total Lib/Nat | 41% | 46% | 46% | 46% |
| Labor | 59% | 54% | 54% | 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 »
Health, hospitals, hospitals takeover
Q4. Do you approve or disapprove of the agreement over health funding between the Federal Government and the State Governments?
| Total approve | 48% |
| Total disapprove | 25% |
| Strongly approve | 13% |
| Approve | 35% |
| Disapprove | 16% |
| Strongly disapprove | 9% |
| Don’t know | 27% |
48% of respondents approved of the agreement over health funding between the Federal Government and the State Governments and 25% disapproved. 71% of Labor voters approved and 7% disapproved. Liberal/National voters split 36% approve/46% disapprove.
Respondents from NSW and Queensland were more likely to approve than respondents from Victoria – NSW 50% approve/22% disapprove, Queensland 48%/20%, Victoria 45%/28%. Comments »
Health, hospital takeover, hospitals
Q5. From what you have heard, do you think that as a result of this agreement, health services in your state will get better or worse?
| Total better | 43% |
| Total worse | 15% |
| Get a lot better | 10% |
| Get a little better | 34% |
| Get a little worse | 6% |
| Get a lot worse | 9% |
| Stay much the same | 25% |
| Don’t know | 17% |
43% think that as a result of this agreement, health services in their state will get better – 15% think they will get worse and 25% think they will stay much the same. 65% of Labor voters think health services will get better and 6% worse. Liberal/National voters split 28% better/24% worse/40% stay the same.
There were no significant differences between the states in terms of whether health services will get better or worse. Comments »
asylum, asylum seekers, economy, Education, Government performance, Health, Industrial Relations
Q6. How would you rate the Federal Government’s performance in handling the following issues?
| Total good | Total poor | Very good | Good | Poor | Very poor | Not sure | |
| Stimulating the economy to address the economic crisis | 63% | 29% | 21% | 42% | 19% | 10% | 8% |
| Handling the economy in such a way as to minimize job losses during the recent economic crisis | 59% | 29% | 15% | 44% | 18% | 11% | 12% |
| Trying to find ways to improve the health care system | 50% | 39% | 10% | 39% | 24% | 15% | 12% |
| Replacing the Workchoices industrial laws | 44% | 36% | 13% | 31% | 22% | 14% | 20% |
| Standing up for Australian working families | 43% | 45% | 9% | 34% | 24% | 21% | 13% |
| Balancing the interests of business and Australian workers | 39% | 43% | 5% | 34% | 25% | 18% | 18% |
| The school buildings program | 31% | 56% | 5% | 25% | 29% | 27% | 14% |
| Introducing an emissions trading scheme | 28% | 57% | 3% | 25% | 28% | 29% | 15% |
| Handling the issue of asylum seekers | 18% | 72% | 3% | 15% | 28% | 43% | 10% |
A majority of respondents rated the Government’s performance good or very good for “Stimulating the economy to address the economic crisis” (63%), “Handling the economy in such a way as to minimize job losses during the recent economic crisis” (59%) and “Trying to find ways to improve the health care system” (50%).
A majority rated the Government’s performance poor or very poor for “Handling the issue of asylum seekers” (72%), “Introducing an emissions trading scheme” (57%) and “The school buildings program” (56%).
The only issue on which less than half Labor voters rated the Government performance as good/very good was “Handling the issue of asylum seekers” (34% good/58% poor). Comments »
banks, Federal Government, Government support, immigrants, pensioners, rudd, small business, unions
Q7. During their term in office, do you think the Rudd Government has given too much support, not enough support or just about the right amount of support to the following –
| Given too much support | Given enough support | Not given enough support | Don’t know | |
| Pensioners | 3% | 27% | 57% | 12% |
| Poor families | 3% | 28% | 54% | 16% |
| Country Australia | 2% | 31% | 46% | 21% |
| Small businesses | 2% | 37% | 39% | 22% |
| Working people | 2% | 47% | 37% | 13% |
| Unemployed workers | 10% | 37% | 34% | 19% |
| Recent immigrants | 41% | 26% | 17% | 17% |
| Large businesses | 26% | 37% | 14% | 23% |
| Unions | 19% | 42% | 13% | 26% |
| The banks and other large financial institutions | 43% | 33% | 5% | 19% |
About half the respondents think that the Rudd Government has not given enough support to pensioners (57%), poor families (54%) and country Australia (46%). A sizable proportion think that too much support has been given to the banks and other large financial institutions (43%) and recent immigrants (41%). 47% think the Rudd Government has given enough support to working people and 42% think they have given enough support to unions.
Among Labor voters, 50% think the Government has not given enough support to pensioners and 54% think they have not given enough support to poor families. Comments »
Q8. Do you think Australians pay –
| Too much tax | 61% |
| Too little tax | 4% |
| About the right amount | 28% |
| Don’t know | 7% |
61% think Australians pay too much tax and 28% think Australians pay about the right amount.
72% of full-time workers think we pay too much tax but there were no significant differences by income level.
Labor and Liberal/National voters also gave similar responses. Comments »
Q9. Would you be prepared to pay more GST if it was:
| Yes | No | Don’t know | |
| Directly invested in hospitals and health services | 42% | 48% | 10% |
| Invested in aged pensions | 38% | 50% | 12% |
| Directly invested in vital infrastructure like roads and railways | 28% | 59% | 12% |
| Paid off all our national debt | 20% | 66% | 13% |
| Created a fund for Australia to invest in other countries (like China does) | 11% | 74% | 15% |
Respondents were most likely to support an increase in GST if it was directly invested in hospitals and health services (42%) and invested in aged pensions (38%).
However, those opposed to increasing the GST outnumbered those in favour for all options. Increasing GST to pay off national debt was strongly rejected (66%).
Labor voters were a little more supportive of paying more GST to invest in infrastructure (36%) and hospitals and health services (45%). Liberal/National voters were more likely to support increasing GST for investing in aged pensions (44%). Comments »