Federal politics – voting intention
Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?
Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?
Sample size = 1,846 respondents
| First preference/leaning to |
Election 21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago 4/6/12 |
2 weeks ago 18/6/12 |
Last week 25/6/12 |
This week 2/7/12 |
| Liberal |
|
47% |
46% |
46% |
45% |
| National |
|
3% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
| Total Lib/Nat |
43.6% |
50% |
49% |
49% |
49% |
| Labor |
38.0% |
33% |
33% |
33% |
32% |
| Greens |
11.8% |
10% |
10% |
10% |
10% |
| Other/Independent |
6.6% |
7% |
8% |
8% |
9% |
| 2PP |
Election 21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago |
2 weeks ago |
Last week |
This week |
| Total Lib/Nat |
49.9% |
56% |
56% |
56% |
56% |
| Labor |
50.1% |
44% |
44% |
44% |
44% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from the first preference/leaning to voting questions. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results. The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2010 election. These estimates have a confidence interval of approx. + or – 2%.
Asylum Seeker Policies
Q. Thinking about handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat, which approach do you favour?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| The Labor policy of offshore processing in Malaysia |
18% |
44% |
3% |
17% |
| The Liberal policy of offshore processing in Nauru |
35% |
8% |
68% |
2% |
| The Greens policy of onshore processing in Australia |
14% |
15% |
6% |
57% |
| None of above |
16% |
14% |
12% |
14% |
| Don’t know |
17% |
18% |
11% |
9% |
The Liberal’s policy of offshore processing asylum seekers in Nauru was the most preferred option (35%). 18% favoured the Labor policy of offshore processing in Malaysia and 14% favoured the Greens’ policy of onshore processing in Australia.
A majority of Liberal/National voters and Greens voters favoured their own party’s policy but only 44% of Labor voters favoured the Labor policy.
The Liberal’s policy was favoured by 41% of men and 47% of those aged 55+.
Negotiate a Solution for Handling Asylum Seekers
Q. The Government has offered to negotiate with Tony Abbott and the Liberals to reach a compromise solution for handling asylum seekers. Tony Abbott has refused to negotiate and says the Government should adopt the Liberal policy. Do you think the Government and the Opposition should negotiate a solution or should the Government adopt the Liberal policy?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Should negotiate a solution |
57% |
86% |
34% |
85% |
| Should adopt the Liberal policy |
26% |
5% |
50% |
1% |
| Don’t know |
17% |
9% |
15% |
13 |
57% agreed that the Government and the Opposition should negotiate a solution to handling asylum seekers and 26% think the Government should adopt the Liberal policy.
Those most in favour of adopting the Liberal policy were men (33%), Liberal/National voters (50%) and those aged 65+ (40%).
Reading Newspapers
Q. How often do you read newspapers (in print, not online)?
|
Total |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
Visit news websites daily |
Visit news websites a few times a week |
Visit news websites about once a week |
Visit news websites less often |
Never visit news websites |
|
| Daily |
24% |
15% |
25% |
34% |
34% |
20% |
19% |
14% |
19% |
| A few times a week |
23% |
24% |
25% |
18% |
22% |
31% |
14% |
24% |
14% |
| About once a week |
22% |
20% |
22% |
24% |
19% |
28% |
37% |
15% |
14% |
| Less often |
22% |
30% |
19% |
16% |
19% |
15% |
24% |
39% |
17% |
| Never |
9% |
11% |
9% |
8% |
6% |
6% |
6% |
7% |
35% |
24% said they read newspapers daily and 69% read at least once a week.
Older respondents read newspapers more frequently – 34% of those aged 55+ read daily. 28% of those on higher incomes ($1,600+ pw) read daily compared to 18% of those earning under $600 pw.
Those who visit news websites frequently also read newspapers more frequently – 34% of those visiting news websites daily also read newspapers daily.
Visiting News Websites
Q. And how often do you visit news websites?
|
Total |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
Read news |
Read news |
Read news |
Read news |
Never read news |
|
| Daily |
39% |
39% |
39% |
38% |
54% |
38% |
34% |
33% |
26% |
| A few times a week |
23% |
25% |
25% |
18% |
19% |
31% |
29% |
16% |
15% |
| About once a week |
11% |
10% |
10% |
12% |
8% |
6% |
18% |
12% |
7% |
| Less often |
18% |
18% |
17% |
20% |
11% |
19% |
13% |
32% |
15% |
| Never |
10% |
8% |
9% |
12% |
8% |
6% |
6% |
8% |
37% |
39% said they visited news websites daily and 73% visit at least once a week.
Visiting news websites was similar across age groups but a little higher for those on higher incomes – 44% of those earning $1,600+ pw compared to 33% of those earning under $600 pw.
Those who read newspapers frequently also visit news websites more frequently – 54% of those reading newspapers daily also visit news websites daily.
Note that as this is an online survey, all respondents have access to the Internet.
Concern about Cutting Journalists
Q. Australia’s major newspaper publishers – News and Fairfax – recently announced substantial job cuts, including many journalists. How concerned are you that Australian newspapers are losing so many professional journalists?
|
Total |
Vote ALP |
Vote Lib |
Vote Greens |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
Read daily |
Read a few times a week |
Read about once a week |
Read less often/ never |
|
| Very concerned |
20% |
26% |
19% |
23% |
15% |
21% |
26% |
34% |
24% |
14% |
12% |
| Somewhat concerned |
28% |
28% |
29% |
34% |
28% |
29% |
27% |
34% |
34% |
24% |
22% |
| A little concerned |
29% |
28% |
29% |
22% |
31% |
29% |
26% |
21% |
25% |
37% |
32% |
| Not at all concerned |
17% |
16% |
18% |
16% |
18% |
16% |
17% |
9% |
14% |
21% |
23% |
| Don’t know |
6% |
2% |
5% |
5% |
7% |
6% |
4% |
3% |
3% |
4% |
12% |
20% were very concerned and 28% somewhat concerned about job cuts to newspaper journalists.
68% of daily readers of newspapers were very/somewhat concerned.
Those most concerned were aged 55+ (53%) and respondents from Victoria (59%).
Statements about Cutting Journalists
Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
|
Total |
Vote ALP |
Vote Lib |
Vote Greens |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
Read daily |
Read a few times a week |
Read about once a week |
Read less often/ never |
|
| As we lose more and more professional journalists, we are losing the seasoned judgments of skilled and experienced professionals in gathering and assessing information – and that is a bad thing for Australia and Australian democracy. |
50% |
53% |
49% |
52% |
41% |
48% |
62% |
70% |
53% |
44% |
35% |
| With the internet, we all have access to a large amount of information and the loss of the professional journalists who work for the major newspapers in Australia really doesn’t matter that much. |
31% |
26% |
34% |
34% |
37% |
30% |
25% |
20% |
28% |
39% |
36% |
| Don’t know |
20% |
21% |
17% |
14% |
22% |
22% |
13% |
10% |
19% |
17% |
29% |
Respondents were more likely to agree with the statement that “As we lose more and more professional journalists, we are losing the seasoned judgments of skilled and experienced professionals in gathering and assessing information – and that is a bad thing for Australia and Australian democracy” (50%).
Those most likely to support this statement were aged 55+ (62%), daily newspaper readers (70%) and Victorians (58%).
Concern about Newspapers Closing
Q. How concerned are you about the possibility that in the next few years, most daily newspapers will stop publishing?
|
Total |
Vote ALP |
Vote Lib |
Vote Greens |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
Read daily |
Read a few times/ week |
Read about once / week |
Read less often/ never |
|
| Very concerned |
24% |
31% |
21% |
15% |
18% |
22% |
34% |
52% |
23% |
14% |
9% |
| Somewhat concerned |
24% |
25% |
27% |
29% |
21% |
26% |
25% |
26% |
34% |
24% |
16% |
| A little concerned |
29% |
19% |
32% |
29% |
31% |
30% |
24% |
14% |
31% |
35% |
34% |
| Not at all concerned |
19% |
20% |
16% |
27% |
23% |
17% |
16% |
7% |
11% |
25% |
29% |
| Don’t know |
5% |
5% |
3% |
1% |
8% |
4% |
2% |
1% |
* |
3% |
12 |
48% were very or somewhat concerned about the possibility of most daily newspapers closing in the next few years and 48% were only a little or not at all concerned. 78% of those who read daily were very/somewhat concerned – and 52% were very concerned.
Those most concerned were women (53% very/somewhat), aged 55+ (59%) and Victorians (59%).
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
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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