Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?

• Support for Scott Morrison as PM has risen since before the Federal Election, from 39% to 43% while Albanese has slightly lower support than Bill Shorten did before the Federal Election (25% to 32%).
• However, it may be too soon to judge Albanese’s performance, as the number who replied ‘Don’t know’ has also crept up (from 28% to 32%).
• Morrison received strong support (80%) from Coalition voters, while Labor voters were less sure of Albanese as PM (with 34% selecting ‘Don’t know’, double the number compared to Coalition voters – 17%). 40% of Other voters did not know who they would prefer.

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?

• The proportion who strongly approve Scott Morrison’s performance has increased since before the election from 43% to 48%, while the proportion who disapprove has decreased from 39% to 36%.
• Very few Greens voters and Labor voters strongly approve of his performance (0% and 4%). Overall approval for Morrison is over three times as strong among Coalition voters as it is for Greens or Labor voters (86% to 24% and 23% respectively).

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader?

• Albanese faces a similar approval rate (35% to 38%) but lower disapproval (25% to 44%) than Bill Shorten received in May 2019.
• However, the difference has mostly gone towards an increase in those selecting ‘Don’t know’ (39% to 18%), suggesting he hasn’t been Opposition Leader long enough for voters to decide.
• More than a third of Labor, Coalition and Other voters were not sure if they approved or disapproved of his performance (the number reached 44% for Greens voters).

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

• Over three-quarters of voters favour funding for education and health over tax cuts for high earners.
• Those most likely to say they supported reducing taxes for high income earners were also younger (40% of 18-34 year olds strongly agreeing) and wealthier (41% of high income earners strongly agreeing). Retirees were less likely to support the policy (66% net disagreeing).

• Labor and Greens voters were more likely to agree with statement ‘Maintaining funding for education and health is more important than cutting taxes for those earning more than $200,000’.
• They were also more likely to agree that ‘People earning over $150,000 should pay a higher rate of tax than those earning $40,000’, and that ‘A $05 billion tax cut for high income earners will make it impossible for government to deliver essential services’.
• Coalition voters were more likely to agree with ‘I support reducing taxes by $11,000 per year for people earning over $200,000’, with 43% strongly agreeing compared to 27% of Labor voters, 23% of Greens voters and 25% of Other voters.

Q. How much trust do you have in what you read or hear in the following media? NET: A lot of trust/Some trust

• A majority of people had at least some trust in SBS TV news (60%) and ABC radio news (57%), while none of the other sources gained above 50%.
• There was little change from last year in the levels of trust recorded for each media source.
• There were few significant differences by age, gender, income or highest level of education attained.

Q. What is your view about the following issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and whether they should be a priority for the Government to address?

• Voters supported meeting the ‘Close the Gap’ targets (74%), inclusion of aboriginal recognition in the constitution (70%), and establishment of an Indigenous ‘voice’ to advise Parliament (66%), with around three in ten voters saying each should be a high priority for the Government to address.
• Coalition voters were less likely than other voters to say they supported all of these issues and they should be a priority, whereas Greens voters were more likely to say so.
• Changing the date of Australia Day and the words of the National Anthem were opposed by a majority of voters.
• Net support for all of the issues varied little from when the same question was asked in February 2018.

Q. In your opinion, over the past 10 years, have things got better or worse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia, or have things stayed much the same?

• Nearly half (46%) believed that things had got at least a little better for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over the last 10 years.
• Over a third stated that in their opinion, conditions had stayed much the same for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders over the past 10 years, while only 8% believed conditions had got worse.

Q. If a referendum was held to include recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution, would you vote for or against?

• Over half (57%) of voters said they would vote for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution. This is three times as many that said they would vote against.
• A quarter said they did not know how they would vote in such a referendum.
• Support and opposition to this issue has remained relatively constant since 2014.