Statements about politics

Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Total agree	Total disagree		Strongly agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
Political parties in Australia are too ideological	42%	13%		13%	29%	45%	10%	3%
I would consider voting for an independent in the next Federal election	42%	24%		13%	29%	34%	14%	10%
There is no substantial difference between the policies of the Labor and Liberal Parties	38%	29%		12%	26%	32%	22%	7%
We don’t need any new political parties – the Labor, Liberal and minor parties represent the interests of most Australians.	42%	23%		12%	30%	35%	16%	7%
There should be more independents and minor parties in Parliament.	38%	24%		13%	25%	38%	16%	8%
Neither Labor nor the Liberals have a long term plan for Australia.	51%	15%		17%	34%	34%	12%	3%
I have become less interested in politics over the last few years.	47%	24%		18%	29%	29%	17%	7%

 

	Total agree		Firm vote	Firm but might change	Not firm
Political parties in Australia are too ideological	42%		39%	49%	50%
I would consider voting for an independent in the next Federal election	42%		30%	50%	73%
There is no substantial difference between the policies of the Labor and Liberal Parties	38%		33%	44%	51%
We don’t need any new political parties – the Labor, Liberal and minor parties represent the interests of most Australians.	42%		55%	44%	31%
There should be more independents and minor parties in Parliament.	38%		34%	48%	44%
Neither Labor nor the Liberals have a long term plan for Australia.	51%		46%	56%	67%
I have become less interested in politics over the last few years.	47%		45%	50%	46%

 

This table shows the relationships between the statements about politics and the firmness of voting intention.

Those who might change their vote are much more likely to consider voting for an independent in the next Federal election (50%of firm might change/73% of not firm), think that there is no substantial difference between the policies of the Labor and Liberal Parties (44%/51%) and think neither Labor nor the Liberals have a long term plan for Australia (56%/67%).

There is no significant relationship between firmness of vote and interest in politics.

However, those who would consider voting for an independent were much more likely to agree that political parties in Australia are too ideological (56%), there is no substantial difference between the policies of the Labor and Liberal Parties (56%), there should be more independents and minor parties in Parliament (66%) and neither Labor nor the Liberals have a long term plan for Australia (73%). But they were only a little more likely than average to say they had become less interested in politics over the last few years (55% cf 47%).