Q. Who do you think will run the National Broadband Network?  And who do you think should run the National Broadband Network?

32% of people surveyed don’t know who will run the National Broadband Network (NBN), 27% think the Federal Government will run it and 26% think Telstra will.   Labor voters were more likely to think the NBN will be run by the Federal Government (38%), while Coalition voters were more likely to think it will be run by Telstra (34%).

40% think the Federal Government and 16% think Telstra should run the NBN.  Labor voters were more likely to think the Federal Government should run the NBN (54%), while Coalition voters were more likely to think it should be run by Telstra (27%).

Comments »

Q. Which of the following do you think are the most powerful and politically influential organisations in Australia?

35% of people surveyed think that media companies (e.g. News Ltd, TV stations) are the most powerful and politically influential organisations in Australia, 22% think that the most powerful and politically influential organisations in Australia are major banks, and 10% think power is held by mining companies (e.g. BHP-Billiton).

Labor voters were more likely to think that the most influential and powerful organisations in Australia are the major banks (28%), while Coalition voters were more likely than the average to think trade unions are (16%).  Green voters were more likely to think that most power and influence is vested with mining companies (18%).

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think that media companies are the most powerful organisations in Australia (40%), while people aged 25 – 34 were more likely to think power and influence in Australia is held by mining companies (16%).

Comments »

Q. Thinking about climate change, the Government says legislation for an emissions trading scheme needs to be passed before the world summit on climate change being held in Copenhagen in December. The Opposition says Australia should delay making any decisions on an emissions trading scheme until after the world summit. Who do you agree with most?

33% of people surveyed agree with the Government’s view that legislation for an emissions trading scheme needs to be passed before the world summit on climate change being held in Copenhagen in December.  38% agree with the view of the Opposition in that Australia should delay making any decisions on an emissions trading scheme until after the world summit, and 29% don’t know.

The number of people that agree with the view of the Opposition has increased slightly (+2%) since we last asked this question in June, while the number of those that agree with the Government has stayed the same.

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to agree with the view of the Opposition’s view that the introduction of an emissions trading scheme should wait until after the world summit (55%), while people aged 34 years or less were more likely to agree with the Government’s view regarding the introduction of the scheme before the world summit (38%).

Males were more likely than females to agree with the view of the Opposition on this issue (44% v 34%).

Comments »

Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Opposition Leader?

29% of people surveyed approve of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Opposition Leader and 50% disapprove.   Turnbull’s approval rating has increased slightly since we last asked this question (+2%), and his disapproval rating has seen a slight decrease (-3%).

Approval followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to approve (56%), while Labor voters were more likely to disapprove (70%).   28% of Coalition voters disapprove of the job Turnbull is doing as Opposition Leader.

Malcolm Turnbull’s net rating of -21% is a 5 point improvement on the September result and his best result since May.

Comments »

Q. Will the recent increase in official interest rates make you personally better or worse off financially?

41% of people think that the recent increase in official interest rates make them worse off personally, 15% think the interest rate increase will make them better off and 40% think it will make no difference to their personal financial situation.

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to indicate that the increase in official interest rates will make them better off (36%) while middle aged people were more likely to indicate that it will make them worse off (53% of 25 – 34 year olds, 54% of 35 – 44 year olds).

People in full-time work were more likely to indicate that the interest rate increase will make them worse off (55%).

Perception that the rise in interest rates will make people worse off increased with salary – 46% of people earning $600 – $1000 per week/46% of those earning $1000 – $1600 per week and 49% of those earning $1600+ per week think it will make them worse off.  55% of those earning $600 per week or less think the interest rate increase will make no difference to their personal financial situation.

Comments »

Q. Do you think the recent increase in official interest rates indicates that Australia’s economy is getting better or getting worse?

Just over half (53%) think the recent increase in official interest rates indicates that Australia’s economy is getting better, 12% think it is an indication that the economy is getting worse and 28% think it is not a sign that the economy is getting better or worse.

Labor voters were more likely to think the interest rate rise is a sign that the economy is getting better (61%), while Coalition voters were a little more likely than the average to think that it is a sign that the economy is getting worse (18%).  48% of Coalition voters think that the recent interest rate increase is a sign that the economy is getting better.

Comments »

Q. Which of the following statements most closely reflects your opinion on the cause of the recent increase in official interest rates?

When it comes to what the public perceive are the causes of the recent increase in official interest rates, 30% think that the Reserve Bank independently sets interest rates to avoid inflation and 18% think that interest rate rises are a correction to the historic low interest rates during the Global Financial Crisis.  15% think that the Federal Government has managed the economy well and the rate increase is a sign of a strong economy.

Only 9% think it is because the Government has managed the economy badly.

Coalition voters were more likely to think that the Reserve Bank independently setting interest rates to avoid inflation is the cause of the recent increase in interest rates (39%).  Labor voters were more likely to think the increase in interest rates is because the Federal Government has managed the economy well and the rate increase is a sign of a strong economy (28%).  Green voters were more likely to think the recent interest rate rises are just a correction to the historic low interest rates during the Global Financial Crisis (24%).

Comments »

Q. Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same?

Just over half (53%) think that over the next 12 months, economic conditions in Australia will get better, 23% think they will get worse and 21% think they will stay much the same.

The number of people that think economic conditions in Australia will get better over the next 12 months has decreased thirteen percentage points since we last asked this question in October this year, and the number that think economic conditions will get worse has increased eight percentage points.  However, the current results are very similar to the August survey results and considerably more positive than results recorded up to June.

Labor voters were more likely to think economic conditions will get better (65%), Coalition voters were more likely to think they will get worse (30%) and Green voters were more likely to think conditions will stay much the same (34%).

People earning $1600 per week or more were more likely to think economic conditions will get better (60%), while people earning $600 – $1000 per week were more likely to think they will get worse (32%).

Comments »