The Past Year – Personal
Q. Has it been a good or bad year for each of the following?
| Total good
(Dec 10) |
Total bad
(Dec 10) |
Total good | Total bad | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | |
| Your personal financial situation | 28% | 28% | 30% | 32% | 5% | 25% | 37% | 22% | 10% | 1% |
| Your workplace * | 43% | 21% | 43% | 23% | 8% | 35% | 33% | 18% | 5% | 2% |
| You and your family overall | 43% | 19% | 44% | 20% | 8% | 36% | 34% | 15% | 5% | 1% |
* based on working people
Respondents were evenly divided over whether it has been a good or bad year financially. Those most likely to say it was a good year were full-time workers (38% good/28% bad), aged under 35 (37%/28%) and incomes over $1,600pw (41%/25%).
Respondents were more positive about their workplace (43%/23%) and overall for themselves and their family (44%/20%). Younger respondents were a little more positive about themselves and their family– those aged under 35 split 50% good/15% bad.
On these measures 2011 was considered very similar to 2010.
2011 Outlook – Economy and Family
Q. Thinking about the next 12 months, do you think 2011 will be a good or bad year for each of the following?
| Total good | Total poor | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know/Not applicable | |
| The Australian economy | 48% | 16% | 5% | 43% | 32% | 14% | 2% | 5% |
| Your personal financial situation | 39% | 20% | 7% | 32% | 38% | 14% | 6% | 3% |
| Your workplace * | 47% | 16% | 8% | 39% | 33% | 13% | 3% | 4% |
| You and your family overall | 51% | 14% | 10% | 41% | 30% | 11% | 3% | 4% |
* based on working people
Overall, respondents were optimistic that 2011 would be a good year for themselves overall (51%), the Australian economy (48%) and their workplace (47%). They tended to be a little less optimistic about their financial situation (39% good/20% bad).
When compared with last week’s questions on perceptions of 2010, these figures suggest that respondents expect 2011 to be better than 2010.
In particular, more respondents believed it would be a good year for their personal situation (28% 2010/39% 2011), the Australian economy (41%/48%) and themselves and their families overall (43%/51%).
2011 Outlook – Political Parties
Q. Do you think 2011 will be a good or bad year for each of the following political parties?
| Total good | Total poor | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | |
| The Liberal Party | 35% | 18% | 7% | 28% | 34% | 14% | 4% | 13% |
| The Labor Party | 19% | 40% | 4% | 15% | 29% | 29% | 11% | 12% |
| The Greens | 22% | 29% | 4% | 18% | 35% | 16% | 13% | 14% |
Respondents expect that 2011 is likely to be a good year for the Liberal Party (35% good/18% bad) and a bad year for the Labor Party (19%/40%).
Comparing these results with last week’s questions about 2010, respondents expect the Liberal Party to have a better year – 2010 33% good/27% bad compared to 2011 35%/18%.
Also, although the Greens were assessed to have had a good 2010 (42% good/21% bad) expectations are not so positive for 2011 (22%/29%).
2011 Outlook – Politicians
Q. Do you think 2011 will be a good or bad year for each of the following politicians?
| Total good | Total poor | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | |
| Julia Gillard | 28% | 36% | 5% | 23% | 23% | 26% | 10% | 12% |
| Tony Abbott | 29% | 27% | 5% | 24% | 32% | 20% | 7% | 13% |
| Kevin Rudd | 21% | 30% | 3% | 18% | 35% | 21% | 9% | 14% |
| Malcolm Turnbull | 20% | 21% | 3% | 17% | 41% | 17% | 4% | 18% |
| Bob Brown | 20% | 30% | 4% | 16% | 31% | 18% | 12% | 19% |
There were no strong expectations one way or the other that 2011 would be good or bad for politicians.
Overall, there were negative expectations for Julia Gillard (-8% net), Kevin Rudd (-9%) and Bob Brown (-10%) while respondents were divided over Tony Abbott (+2%) and Malcolm Turnbull (-1%).
Comparing these results with last week’s questions, respondents expect 2011 to be worse than 2010 for Julia Gillard (net +24% in 2010 compared to
-8% in 2011) and Bob Brown (+17% in 2010/-10% in 2011).
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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