Essential Report
Interest in Politics and other topics
Q. How much interest do you have in each of the following?
A lot of interest | Some interest | A little interest | Not much interest | No interest at all | |
Federal politics | 19% | 30% | 22% | 14% | 14% |
International relations | 16% | 33% | 28% | 12% | 12% |
State politics | 15% | 32% | 27% | 13% | 14% |
Local politics | 12% | 32% | 27% | 13% | 15% |
The football finals (AFL or NRL) | 26% | 18% | 15% | 12% | 29% |
The Ashes | 18% | 17% | 16% | 12% | 36% |
The Block | 9% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 49% |
The Bachelor | 7% | 10% | 12% | 13% | 59% |
- Almost one fifth of participants (19%) say they have a lot of interest in Federal politics. This is lower than the 26% of people who have a lot of interest in the upcoming football finals.
- Sporting events are polarising, as they generate both a high amount of interest (26% for football and 18% for The Ashes) or no interest at all (29% and 36%).
- TV shows do not generate much interest, with just 9% having a lot of interest in The Block, and 7% in the Bachelor.
A lot of interest
Total | Gender | Age | ||||
Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
Federal politics | 19% | 24% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 29% |
International relations | 16% | 21% | 11% | 13% | 16% | 18% |
State politics | 15% | 21% | 10% | 10% | 13% | 22% |
Local politics | 12% | 15% | 9% | 11% | 11% | 14% |
The football finals
(AFL or NRL) |
26% | 32% | 20% | 22% | 25% | 30% |
The Ashes | 18% | 27% | 10% | 17% | 16% | 21% |
The Block | 9% | 8% | 10% | 11% | 11% | 6% |
The Bachelor | 7% | 6% | 7% | 12% | 8% | 1% |
Total | Federal Voting Intention (Lower House) | ||||
Labor | NET: Coalition | Greens | Independent / Other | ||
Federal politics | 19% | 20% | 26% | 16% | 15% |
International relations | 16% | 15% | 19% | 16% | 17% |
State politics | 15% | 18% | 19% | 12% | 11% |
Local politics | 12% | 13% | 14% | 12% | 11% |
The football finals
(AFL or NRL) |
26% | 31% | 28% | 16% | 27% |
The Ashes | 18% | 19% | 24% | 13% | 15% |
The Block | 9% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 8% |
The Bachelor | 7% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 2% |
- Men are more likely than women to say they have a lot of interest in all levels of politics and sporting events.
- Older respondents (aged over 55) are more likely than those aged 18-34 to say they have a lot of interest in Federal and State politics (29% to 13%, and 22% to 10% respectively), but less likely to have interest in TV shows.
No interest at all
Total | Gender | Age | ||||
Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
Federal politics | 14% | 10% | 18% | 21% | 16% | 7% |
International relations | 12% | 7% | 16% | 15% | 14% | 7% |
State politics | 14% | 11% | 17% | 21% | 15% | 8% |
Local politics | 15% | 12% | 18% | 22% | 15% | 9% |
The football finals
(AFL or NRL) |
29% | 21% | 35% | 27% | 28% | 31% |
The Ashes | 36% | 25% | 47% | 37% | 38% | 34% |
The Block | 49% | 53% | 45% | 34% | 48% | 63% |
The Bachelor | 59% | 61% | 57% | 37% | 58% | 79% |
Total | Federal Voting Intention (Lower House) | ||||
Labor | NET: Coalition | Greens | Independent / Other | ||
Federal politics | 14% | 11% | 8% | 14% | 23% |
International relations | 12% | 10% | 6% | 8% | 19% |
State politics | 14% | 10% | 8% | 11% | 22% |
Local politics | 15% | 13% | 8% | 12% | 21% |
The football finals
(AFL or NRL) |
29% | 25% | 21% | 41% | 38% |
The Ashes | 36% | 34% | 26% | 44% | 47% |
The Block | 49% | 47% | 47% | 49% | 59% |
The Bachelor | 59% | 58% | 57% | 56% | 72% |

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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