Abbott, Gillard, Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| Tony Abbott | 32% | 6% | 76% |
| Julia Gillard | 50% | 85% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 9% | 8% |
50% believe that Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 32% prefer Tony Abbott.
There were major differences by gender – men preferred Julia Gillard by a margin of 7% (47%/40%) whereas the margin among women was 28% (53%/25%). Greens voters preferred Julia Gillard 83% to 8%. Comments »
Abbott, Approval of opposition leader, Liberal
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Malcolm Turnbull | Tony Abbott | |||||||||
| 30 Mar 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 22 Feb 10 | 29 Mar 10 | 3 May 10 | 31 May 10 | |
| Strongly approve | 3% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 7% | 5% | 12% | 8% | 5% | 5% |
| Approve | 25% | 20% | 24% | 23% | 27% | 32% | 33% | 25% | 34% | 30% |
| Disapprove | 31% | 31% | 35% | 33% | 18% | 20% | 20% | 28% | 24% | 28% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 26% | 18% | 22% | 18% | 17% | 16% | 22% | 19% | 22% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 19% | 21% | 19% | 31% | 26% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 16% |
| Total approve | 28% | 24% | 27% | 25% | 34% | 37% | 45% | 33% | 39% | 35% |
| Total disapprove | 48% | 57% | 53% | 55% | 36% | 37% | 36% | 50% | 43% | 50% |
Tony Abbott’s approval rating has fallen back close to the level of the March poll – which was his lowest recorded. 35% approve (down 4%) of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 50% disapprove (up 7%).
72% of Liberal/National voters approve and 17% disapprove. 77% of Labor voters disapprove and 15% approve.
The only group showing net approval was people aged 65+ (52% approve/42% disapprove).
Abbott, International Relations, Liberal, WorkChoices
Q. If they won the next election, how likely do you think it would be that Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party would try to bring back industrial laws similar to WorkChoices?
| Total likely | 58% |
| Total unlikely | 21% |
| Very likely | 28% |
| Quite likely | 30% |
| Not very likely | 18% |
| Not at all likely | 3% |
| Don’t know | 20% |
58% believe it is likely that Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party would try to bring back industrial laws similar to WorkChoices if they won the next election – 21% think it is unlikely.
83% of Labor voters and 42% of Liberal/National voters think it is likely – 44% of Liberal/National voters think it is unlikely.
64% of workers think it is likely and 17% unlikely. Comments »
Abbott, International Relations, Liberal, Union, WorkChoices
Q. Tony Abbott says that by removing unfair dismissal laws and re-instituting AWA Individual contracts he is not bringing back Workchoices but making sure our IR system promotes workplace flexibility. The unions say that taking away unfair dismissal rights and re-instituting AWA Individual contracts IS bringing back two of the main pillars of WorkChoices and shows the Liberals are determined to make the laws favour companies at the expense of ordinary workers. Whose view is closest to your own?
| Tony Abbott | 24% |
| The unions | 43% |
| Don’t know | 33% |
24% agreed more with Tony Abbott’s position on removing unfair dismissal laws and re-instituting AWA Individual contracts and 43% agreed more with the unions’ position that the Liberals are determined to make the laws favour companies at the expense of ordinary workers.
69% of Labor voters support the unions’ position and 56% of Liberal/National voters support Tony Abbott’s position.
51% of those aged 35-54 support the unions’ position and 21% support Tony Abbott’s position. Comments »
Abbott, Approval of opposition leader, Liberal
Q. Would you say that your view of Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party has become more or less favourable in recent weeks?
| Total more favourable | 26% |
| Total less favourable | 34% |
| Much more favourable | 7% |
| A little more favourable | 19% |
| A little less favourable | 13% |
| Much less favourable | 21% |
| No change | 36% |
| Don’t know | 4% |
34% of respondents said their view of Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party had become less favourable over recent weeks and 26% said they had become more favourable.
55% of Coalition voters said they had become more favourable and 13% less favourable. Labor voters split 8% more favourable/52% less favourable and Greens voters 15% more favourable/61% less favourable.
31% of men had become more favourable compared to 22% of women.
Those on higher incomes had the most favourable view – respondents with incomes over $1,600 pw were 34% more favourable/32% less favourable. Comments »
Abbott, Approval of opposition leader, asylum seekers, climate change, ETS, resources super profits tax, RSPT
If a little more or much more favourable –
Q. And which of the following would you say has been the main reason for your view of Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party becoming more favourable in recent weeks?
| Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians | 21% |
| They would cut Government spending | 20% |
| They oppose the 40% tax on mining companies | 15% |
| They would be tough on asylum seekers | 12% |
| Liberal Party is more united under Tony Abbott | 11% |
| They oppose introduction of ETS to address climate change | 9% |
| Some other reason | 4% |
| No particular reason | 8% |
Sample size = 269
The main reasons for having a more favourable view of Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party were that Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians (21%) and the Liberals would cut Government spending (20%). Opposing the 40% tax on mining companies rated third with 15%.
For Coalition voters the main reasons were that Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians (24%) and the Liberals would cut Government spending (24%).
27% of those on higher incomes (over $1,000 pw) said Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians compared to 12% of those on lower incomes (under $1,000 pw). Comments »
Abbott, Approval of opposition leader, approval of PM, Prime Minister, rudd, trust in leaders
Q. Do you think the Opposition leader Tony Abbott is more or less trustworthy than the average Australian political leader?Q. And do you think the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is more or less trustworthy than the average Australian political leader?
| Tony Abbott | Kevin Rudd | |
| Total more trustworthy | 20% | 19% |
| Total less trustworthy | 32% | 34% |
| A lot more trustworthy | 8% | 4% |
| A little more trustworthy | 12% | 15% |
| About the same | 40% | 41% |
| A little less trustworthy | 10% | 13% |
| A lot less trustworthy | 22% | 21% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 5% |
Perceptions of trustworthiness were similar for the two leaders – both net negative.
20% believe Tony Abbott to be more trustworthy than the average compared to 32% less trustworthy. For Kevin Rudd the results were 19% more trustworthy and 34% less trustworthy.
47% of Coalition voters think Tony Abbott is more trustworthy and 56% of Labor voters think he is less trustworthy. For Kevin Rudd 40% of Labor voters think he is more trustworthy and 69% of Coalition voters think he is less trustworthy.
Greens voters tend to think Tony Abbott is less trustworthy (55%) and are split on Kevin Rudd (24% more/25% less). Comments »
Abbott, Approval of opposition leader, leader, leader attributes, leadership
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?
| 7 Dec 09 | 10 May 10 | Change | |
| Intelligent | 71% | 72% | +1% |
| Hard-working | 69% | 71% | +2% |
| A capable leader | 46% | 50% | +4% |
| Demanding | 53% | 52% | -1% |
| Arrogant | 53% | 54% | +1% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 53% | 51% | -2% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 46% | 49% | +3% |
| Visionary | 34% | 35% | +1% |
| Superficial | 42% | 44% | +2% |
| Good in a crisis | 39% | 40% | +1% |
| Narrow-minded | 52% | 53% | +1% |
| Down to earth | 46% | 50% | +4% |
| Too inflexible | 45% | 47% | +2% |
| Complacent | 31% | 30% | -1% |
| More honest than most politicians | 31% | 33% | +2% |
| Trustworthy | 36% | 39% | +3% |
*Not asked in June 2009 poll
When it comes to rating Tony Abbott, most people think he is intelligent (72%) and hard-working (71%), yet arrogant (54%), narrow-minded (53%) and demanding (52%).
There were few substantial changes Tony Abbott’s ratings compared to the December 2009 results. His rating for being a capable leader improved 4% to 50%, as did his rating for being down to earth.