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Attitudes towards the importance of how electricity is generated in relation to price and supply
Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It doesn’t matter how electricity is generated, as long as prices don’t go up, and the supply is secure
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Strongly agree | 24% | 30% | 18% | 21% | 28% | 23% | 18% | 29% | 13% | 33% |
| Somewhat agree | 23% | 23% | 23% | 23% | 27% | 19% | 26% | 26% | 11% | 15% |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 24% | 22% | 27% | 27% | 23% | 23% | 23% | 22% | 26% | 25% |
| Somewhat disagree | 18% | 16% | 19% | 18% | 14% | 21% | 19% | 17% | 23% | 17% |
| Strongly disagree | 11% | 10% | 13% | 12% | 8% | 14% | 14% | 6% | 27% | 10% |
| TOTAL: Agree | 47% | 53% | 41% | 44% | 55% | 42% | 43% | 55% | 23% | 48% |
| TOTAL: Disagree | 29% | 26% | 32% | 30% | 22% | 35% | 33% | 23% | 51% | 28% |
| Base (n) | 1,034 | 528 | 506 | 329 | 320 | 385 | 322 | 430 | 88 | 107 |
- Nearly half of Australians (47%) agree that it doesn’t matter how electricity is generated, as long as prices don’t go up, and the supply is secure. About a third (29%) disagree.
- Men are more likely to strongly agree with this statement than women (30% to 18% respectively).
- Coalition voters are also more likely to agree with this statement compared to other voters (55% to 43% Labor, 23% Greens and 48% minor party voters).
Performance of Scott Morrison
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?
| Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | Feb’20 | Jan’20 | Dec’19 | |
| TOTAL: Approve | 66% | 63% | 64% | 66% | 63% | 65% | 64% | 59% | 41% | 39% | 40% | 45% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 25% | 27% | 28% | 23% | 27% | 26% | 27% | 31% | 49% | 52% | 52% | 43% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 10% | 8% | 11% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 8% | 13% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 | 1,056 | 1,081 | 1,035 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Strongly approve | 24% | 11% | 48% | 8% | 13% |
| Approve | 41% | 39% | 46% | 37% | 41% |
| Disapprove | 15% | 21% | 4% | 26% | 22% |
| Strongly disapprove | 11% | 19% | 1% | 21% | 15% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 9% | 1% | 8% | 8% |
| TOTAL: Approve | 66% | 50% | 94% | 45% | 55% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 25% | 40% | 5% | 47% | 37% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
- The Prime Minister’s approval rating is now at 66%, equivalent of the score in August.
- Approval of the Prime Minister among is at 94% among Coalition supporters (89% last month) and 50% among Labor voters (45% last month).
Performance of Anthony Albanese
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | Feb’20 | Jan’20 | Dec’19 | |
| TOTAL: Approve | 40% | 44% | 44% | 44% | 44% | 43% | 42% | 44% | 41% | 41% | 43% | 39% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 33% | 29% | 29% | 30% | 28% | 30% | 27% | 29% | 33% | 31% | 30% | 28% |
| Don’t know | 27% | 27% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 31% | 27% | 26% | 28% | 27% | 33% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 | 1,056 | 1,081 | 1,035 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Strongly approve | 8% | 11% | 7% | 8% | 4% |
| Approve | 33% | 48% | 23% | 41% | 27% |
| Disapprove | 22% | 14% | 29% | 15% | 34% |
| Strongly disapprove | 11% | 5% | 20% | 5% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 27% | 23% | 21% | 31% | 20% |
| TOTAL: Approve | 40% | 59% | 30% | 49% | 31% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 33% | 19% | 48% | 19% | 50% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
- The Opposition Leader’s approval rating has decreased from 44% in October to 40% this month.
- Albanese’s approval rating has decreased among men (51% to 46%), people in regional areas (44% to 39%) and among Labor voters (65% to 59%).
Preferred Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?
| Nov’20 | Oct’20 | Sep’20 | Aug’20 | Jul’20 | Jun’20 | May’20 | Apr’20 | Mar’20 | Feb’20 | Jan’20 | Nov’19 | |
| Scott Morrison | 53% | 50% | 49% | 52% | 50% | 53% | 50% | 46% | 40% | 36% | 36% | 44% |
| Anthony Albanese | 24% | 25% | 26% | 22% | 27% | 23% | 25% | 27% | 35% | 36% | 39% | 28% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 25% | 25% | 26% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 27% | 25% | 28% | 25% | 29% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 1,082 | 1,076 | 1,010 | 1,054 | 1,059 | 1,093 | 1,069 | 1,096 | 1,056 | 1,081 | 1,075 |
| Federal Voting Intention | |||||
| Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | |
| Scott Morrison | 53% | 31% | 87% | 28% | 48% |
| Anthony Albanese | 24% | 48% | 6% | 37% | 20% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 22% | 7% | 35% | 31% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
- Just over half of participants believe that Scott Morrison would make a better PM than Anthony Albanese (53%), while a quarter would prefer the opposition leader (24%). A further quarter (24%) of participants don’t know who would make the better PM.
- Morrison is strongly favoured by Coalition voters, with 87% believing Morrison makes the better PM, compared to Albanese (6%).
- Half of Labor voters believe Albanese would make the better PM (48%). 22% of Labor voters said they didn’t know who would make the better leader.
Performance of State Premiers
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job <NAME> is doing as State Premier?
[Only asked in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA and WA]
| TOTAL: Approve | 16/11/20 | 02/11/20 | 19/10/20 |
| Gladys Berejiklian
NSW |
75% | 68% | 67% |
| Daniel Andrews
VIC |
65% | 61% | 54% |
| Annastacia Palaszczuk
QLD |
65% | 65% | 62% |
| Steven Marshall
SA |
60% | 71% | 51% |
| Mark McGowan
WA |
87% | 78% | 84% |
|
|
Gladys Berejiklian
NSW |
Daniel Andrews
VIC |
Annastacia Palaszczuk
QLD |
Steven Marshall
SA |
Mark McGowan
WA |
| Strongly approve | 28% | 28% | 32% | 24% | 52% |
| Approve | 47% | 37% | 33% | 37% | 35% |
| Disapprove | 9% | 14% | 16% | 14% | 5% |
| Strongly disapprove | 8% | 14% | 11% | 8% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 7% | 8% | 18% | 6% |
| TOTAL: Approve | 75% | 65% | 65% | 60% | 87% |
| TOTAL: Disapprove | 17% | 28% | 27% | 21% | 7% |
| Base (n) | 307 | 278 | 219 | 66 | 98 |
- In NSW, Gladys Berejiklian improved her approval ratings over the past two weeks with to 75% (68% earlier in November).
- After the easing of lockdown restrictions and no number of new cases over the past two weeks, Daniel Andrews has seen his approval rating increase again to 65%. His disapproval rating has dropped from 40% in October to 28% this week.
- Following her election victory in Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk remains on 65% approval.
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
| TOTAL:
CLOSELY |
TOTAL:
NOT CLOSELY |
|
| The 2020 US election | 68% | 32% |
| The easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria | 73% | 27% |
| Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the Shadow Cabinet | 29% | 71% |
| The allegations of sexual misconduct in the Federal Parliament, as outlined in an ABC Four Corners documentary | 36% | 64% |
- The easing of restrictions in Victoria was the news item most closely followed over the past two weeks (73%), followed closely by the events following the US election (68%).
- The fall-out following the Four Corners documentary exposing allegations of sexual misconduct in the Federal Parliament was followed by 36% of people and Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the Shadow Cabinet by 29%.
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
The 2020 US election
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 28% | 31% | 24% | 28% | 27% | 28% | 30% | 32% | 28% | 26% |
| Fairly closely | 41% | 44% | 37% | 39% | 43% | 40% | 40% | 45% | 40% | 32% |
| Not that closely | 22% | 18% | 26% | 24% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 18% | 24% | 29% |
| Not closely at all | 10% | 7% | 12% | 9% | 9% | 11% | 9% | 5% | 7% | 13% |
| TOTAL: CLOSELY | 68% | 75% | 62% | 67% | 70% | 68% | 70% | 77% | 69% | 58% |
| TOTAL: NOT CLOSELY | 32% | 25% | 38% | 33% | 30% | 32% | 30% | 23% | 31% | 42% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 479 | 531 | 250 | 383 | 377 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
The easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 29% | 28% | 29% | 20% | 32% | 33% | 31% | 32% | 25% | 23% |
| Fairly closely | 44% | 46% | 42% | 42% | 43% | 47% | 48% | 46% | 35% | 46% |
| Not that closely | 20% | 20% | 20% | 26% | 19% | 16% | 17% | 17% | 30% | 22% |
| Not closely at all | 7% | 5% | 9% | 12% | 6% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 9% | 10% |
| TOTAL: CLOSELY | 73% | 75% | 71% | 62% | 75% | 80% | 79% | 79% | 61% | 69% |
| TOTAL: NOT CLOSELY | 27% | 25% | 29% | 38% | 25% | 20% | 21% | 21% | 39% | 31% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 479 | 531 | 250 | 383 | 377 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
Labor
45%
Coalition
48%
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Top Federal Government priorities for 2021
- Uptake of a Covid-19 vaccine
- Perceptions of change in the standard of living for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Changing views towards Australia Day
- Support towards a separate national day
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