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 = 1,878 respondents

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. plus or minus 2-3%.

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

41% (up 4%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 49% (down 4%) disapprove – an 8-point change in net rating from -16 to -8.

87% of Labor voters approve (up 5%) and 7% disapprove (down 6%).

By gender – men 40% approve/53% disapprove, women 42% approve/45% disapprove.  In net terms this represents an improvement with men from -21 to -13 and with women from -10 to -3.

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?

33% (no change) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 57% (up 1%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -23 to -24 over the last 5 weeks.

62% (down 1%) of Coalition voters approve and 31% (up 1%) disapprove.

By gender – men 38% approve/53% disapprove, women 29% approve/60% disapprove. In net terms this represents a shift with men from -18 to -15 and with women from -28 to -31.

Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?

42% (down 1%) believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 33% (down 1%) prefer Tony Abbott.

Men prefer Julia Gillard 39%/38% and women prefer Julia Gillard 46%/29%.

Q. Voting in Federal and State elections in Australia is compulsory. Would you support or oppose making voting voluntary at Federal and State elections?

40% support making voting voluntary at Federal and State elections and 49% oppose.

Highest support for voluntary voting was shown by Liberal/National voters (43%), respondents who don’t know which party they would vote for (48%), full-time workers (45%) and respondents aged 25-34 (49%).

Highest opposition to voluntary voting was shown by Labor voters (56%), and respondents aged 55+ (58%).

Q. If voting at elections was voluntary, how likely would you be to vote in the next Federal election?

If voting at elections was voluntary, 83% said they would definitely or probably vote in the next Federal election – 13% said they would probably or definitely not vote.

Those least likely to vote were aged under 45 (17%) and respondents who did not know which party they would vote for (38%).

Q. Would you support or oppose lowering the voting age from 18 to 16?

Only 13% support lowering the voting age from 18 years to 16 years and 78% oppose.

Support was highest among Greens voters (24%) and respondents aged 25-34 (25%).

Q. Which of the following voting systems would you prefer when voting for the Federal House of Representatives.

• A preferential voting system where voters rank all candidates in order of preference.
• An optional preferential system where voters can rank one, some, or all candidates in order of preference.
• A “first past the post” system, where voters only vote for one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins.

Of the three voting options given, 44% favoured “first past the post”, 25% optional preferential and 23% the current preferential system – almost no change since the question was last asked in July 2011.

Optional preferential was most preferred by those aged under 35 (30%) while older groups strongly favoured first past the post (52% of aged 45+).

“First past the post” was preferred by 52% Liberal/National voters and 43% of Greens voters preferred optional preferential.