04 June 2012, 040612, 3Q Ep 14, Australian economy, Coalition, Financial Assistance, inflation, Interest rates, Labor Party, peter lewis, public opinion, unemployment
Labor takes pride in being there for those up against hard luck. Targeted financial assistance comes in many forms, whether co-investment to an auto industry being hammered by the two-speed economy, childcare rebates to hard-up families, or the straight cash injection into middle Australian wallets.
It appears there is a new victim of the Australian economy in need of a rescue package: the Coalition voter.
With interest rates, inflation and unemployment all under the 5 per cent threshold, Australia is bucking the global trend in maintaining stability in the face of global unrest. But our polling this week shows only around one third of Australians are prepared to say the economy is performing well.
And while many are unimpressed with Australia’s performance, Coalition voters – and that’s a lot of people these days – are feeling the economic pain more intensely.
Read more on this at the Drum
04 June 2012, 040612, Federal Election, Labor Party, Liberal Party, two party preferred, 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 = 1,856 respondents
| First preference/leaning to |
Election 21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago 7/5/12 |
2 weeks ago 21/5/12 |
Last week 28/5/12 |
This week 4/6/12 |
| Liberal |
|
47% |
46% |
47% |
47% |
| National |
|
3% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
| Total Lib/Nat |
43.6% |
50% |
49% |
50% |
50% |
| Labor |
38.0% |
29% |
33% |
33% |
33% |
| Greens |
11.8% |
11% |
10% |
10% |
10% |
| Other/Independent |
6.6% |
9% |
8% |
7% |
7% |
| 2PP |
Election 21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago |
2 weeks ago |
Last week |
This week |
| Total Lib/Nat |
49.9% |
58% |
56% |
57% |
56% |
| Labor |
50.1% |
42% |
44% |
43% |
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%.
04 June 2012, 040612, abor politician, Corruption, Craig Thompson, public awareness
Q. There have recently been allegations of corrupt behaviour by Craig Thomson, a Federal Labor politician. How much have you read or heard about this issue?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| A lot |
29% |
23% |
39% |
16% |
| Some |
30% |
35% |
31% |
32% |
| A little |
28% |
26% |
24% |
43% |
| Nothing |
9% |
13% |
5% |
8% |
| Don’t know |
4% |
3% |
2% |
1% |
29% said they have heard or read a lot about the Craig Thomson issue and 30% have heard or read some.
Those who had read or heard most were men (66% a lot/some) and aged 45+ (71%).
04 June 2012, 040612, Craig Thompson, full-time workers, Greens voters, important issue, Labor voters, liberal voters
Q. In your opinion, how important is this issue concerning the behaviour of Craig Thomson?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Very important |
30% |
17% |
49% |
7% |
| Quite important |
36% |
38% |
33% |
43% |
| Not very important |
18% |
25% |
10% |
30% |
| Not at all important |
7% |
11% |
2% |
11% |
| Don’t know |
10% |
9% |
6% |
9% |
30% think the Craig Thomson issue is very important and 36% quite important – only 25% think it is not very or not at all important.
Those most likely to think it is very important were aged 55+ (40%), Liberal/National voters (49%) and full-time workers (34%).
58% of those who had read/heard a lot about it thought it was very important.
Only 17% of union members thought it was very important.
04 June 2012, 040612, allegations, Craig Thompson, Media Coverage
Q. Do you think there has been too much or too little media coverage of the allegations concerning Craig Thomson or has media coverage been about right?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Too much |
43% |
58% |
28% |
64% |
| Too little |
8% |
6% |
12% |
5% |
| About right |
35% |
23% |
49% |
21% |
| Don’t know |
14% |
13% |
10% |
10% |
43% think there has been too much media coverage of the allegations concerning Craig Thomson, 8% too little and 35% think the coverage has been about right.
Those most likely to think there has been too much coverage were women (46%), aged 55+ (52%), respondents on incomes under $600pw (53%) and union members (51%).
04 June 2012, 040612, Craig Thompson, Julia Gillard, Labor Party, Liberal Party, the media, tony abbott
Q. How would you rate the way each of the following have handled this issue concerning Craig Thomson?
|
Total good |
Total poor |
Very good |
Good |
Neither good nor poor |
Poor |
Very poor |
Don’t know |
|
| Julia Gillard and the Labor Party |
15% |
49% |
5% |
10% |
20% |
18% |
31% |
16% |
| Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party |
19% |
40% |
5% |
14% |
24% |
16% |
24% |
17% |
| Craig Thomson |
6% |
56% |
1% |
5% |
21% |
19% |
37% |
16% |
| The media |
20% |
37% |
3% |
17% |
29% |
16% |
21% |
14% |
Overall, respondents believed that all parties have handled the Craig Thomson issue poorly.
37% thought the media has handled it poorly, 40% Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party, 49% Julia Gillard and the Labor Party and 56% Craig Thomson himself. Only 6% thought Craig Thomson’s handling of the issue was good.
42% of Labor voters thought Julia Gillard and the Labor Party’s handling of the issue was good compared to 37% of Coalition voters who thought Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party’s handling was good.
In terms of the media, 52% of Labor voters, 57% of Greens voters and 49% of those aged 55+ thought their handling was poor.
For union members, 29% thought Julia Gillard and the Labor Party’s handling was good, 21% Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party, 14% Craig Thomson himself and 28% the media.
04 June 2012, 040612, Australian economy, corporations, economic reform, ordinary australians, Telstra
Q. Thinking about the major economic reform in Australia since the 1980s like floating the dollar, removing tariffs and privatisation of Government services like Telstra and utilities, who do you think has benefited most – ordinary Australians through higher incomes and more growth and jobs, or corporations through higher profits and less regulation?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Ordinary Australians |
5% |
8% |
4% |
6% |
| Corporations |
54% |
51% |
55% |
62% |
| Both equally |
20% |
19% |
25% |
16% |
| Don’t know |
21% |
22% |
17% |
16% |
54% thought that corporations have benefited most from Australia’s major economic reforms – only 5% think ordinary Australians have benefited most and 20% thought both had benefited equally.
Those most likely to think corporations had benefited most were Greens voters (62%), aged 55+ (60%) and those on incomes under $600pw (61%).