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Responsibility for the Ruby Princess

12 May 2020

Q. You may be aware that there is a special commission of inquiry into the docking of the Ruby Princess cruise ship during the Covid-19 outbreak. Many people were involved during the decision-making process, to varying degrees.

At the end of the day, who do you think is most responsible for the decision to dock the Ruby Princess?

    Gender Age Group
  Total Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
New South Wales Health public officials 25% 29% 22% 21% 26% 29%
The ship’s captain and medical officers 18% 18% 17% 12% 17% 23%
New South Wales Port Authority 13% 12% 14% 14% 14% 11%
Border Force officials 13% 14% 12% 14% 15% 10%
The individual passengers 5% 6% 5% 10% 4% 2%
No one person or group is to blame 26% 22% 29% 29% 24% 25%
Base (n) 1,067 532 535 341 341 385

 

  Federal Voting Intention
Labor Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
New South Wales Health public officials 26% 27% 22% 25%
The ship’s captain and medical officers 14% 22% 16% 19%
New South Wales Port Authority 12% 14% 11% 16%
Border Force officials 15% 11% 15% 15%
The individual passengers 4% 6% 8% 4%
No one person or group is to blame 29% 20% 28% 21%
Base (n) 306 418 86 143
  • A quarter of participants say no one person or group is most responsible for the decision to dock the Ruby Princess (26%) but an equal amount (25%) say the New South Wales Health public officials are most responsible. One-fifth (18%) believe that the ship’s captain and medical officers are most responsible.
  • Men (29%) and those over 55 years old (29%) are more likely to say New South Wales Health public officials are most responsible, compared to women (22%) and 18-34 (21%).
  • Coalition voters are most likely to say the ship’s captain and medical officers are most responsible (22%) compared to other voters (16%).
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