Comparison of Leader Attributes
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?
| Kevin Rudd | Tony Abbott | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 73% | 72% | +1% |
| Hard-working | 76% | 71% | +5% |
| A capable leader | 55% | 50% | +5% |
| Demanding | 69% | 52% | +17% |
| Arrogant | 57% | 54% | +3% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 55% | 51% | +4% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 53% | 49% | +4% |
| Visionary | 37% | 35% | +2% |
| Superficial | 52% | 44% | +8% |
| Good in a crisis | 44% | 40% | +4% |
| Narrow-minded | 43% | 53% | -10% |
| Down to earth | 47% | 50% | -3% |
| Too inflexible | 45% | 47% | -2% |
| Complacent | 38% | 30% | -8% |
| More honest than most politicians | 39% | 33% | +6% |
| Trustworthy | 41% | 39% | +2% |
Kevin Rudd has only slightly better ratings than Tony Abbott across key positive attributes such as hard-working (+5%), a capable leader (+5%) and trustworthy (+2%).
The main differences were that Kevin Rudd is perceived as more demanding (69%/52%), less narrow-minded (43%/53%), more superficial (52%/44%) and more complacent (38%/30%). Comments »
Approval of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott
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 | |
| Strongly approve | 3% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 7% | 5% | 12% | 8% | 5% |
| Approve | 25% | 20% | 24% | 23% | 27% | 32% | 33% | 25% | 34% |
| Disapprove | 31% | 31% | 35% | 33% | 18% | 20% | 20% | 28% | 24% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 26% | 18% | 22% | 18% | 17% | 16% | 22% | 19% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 19% | 21% | 19% | 31% | 26% | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| Total approve | 28% | 24% | 27% | 25% | 34% | 37% | 45% | 33% | 39% |
| Total disapprove | 48% | 57% | 53% | 55% | 36% | 37% | 36% | 50% | 43% |
Tony Abbott’s approval rating regained some of the large decline recorded in the previous poll. 39% approve (up 6%) of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 43% disapprove (down 7%).
74% of Liberal/National voters approve and 18% disapprove. 23% of Labor voters approve and 66% disapprove.
Those aged over 55 are more likely to approve – 49% approve and 41% disapprove. Comments »
Party trust to handle Australia’s Relations
Q. Who would you trust more to handle Australia’s relations with other nations?
| % | |
| Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party | 41% |
| Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party | 27% |
| No difference | 22% |
| Don’t know | 10% |
41% trust Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party when it comes to handling Australia’s relations with other nations, 27% prefer Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party, 22% think there is no difference and 10% don’t know.
Results followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and Labor (85%) while Coalition voters were more likely to trust Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party (66%). Green voters were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party (58%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to trust Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party (37%), while those aged 45 – 54 were more likely to trust Kevin Rudd and Labor (50%) when it comes to handling Australia’s relations with other nations. Comments »
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott
Q. Do you think the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is spending too much time on activities not related to his job as Opposition Leader?
| % | |
| Spend too much time | 32% |
| Not spending too much time | 45% |
| Don’t know | 23% |
Just under half (45%) of those surveyed think Tony Abbott is not spending too much time on activities not related to his job as Opposition Leader, 32% think he spends too much time on activities not related to his job and 23% don’t know.
Labor voters were more likely to think Tony Abbott is spending too much time on activities not related to his job (50%), while Coalition voters were more likely to think he is not spending too much time on activities not related to his job (76%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think Abbott is not spending too much time on activities not related to his job (53%), as were males (49%). Comments »
Better Prime Minister – Rudd or Abbott
Q. Regardless of your likely party choice for the next election, which of the leaders – Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott – do you think overall would be the best Prime Minister?
| 21 Dec 09 | 22 March 10 | |
| Kevin Rudd | 51% | 50% |
| Tony Abbott | 25% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 19% |
When it comes to a choice between Rudd and Abbott as the better Prime Minister, 50% selected Rudd and 30% selected Abbott. The results for Rudd shifted slightly (-1%) since we last asked this question in December 2009. However, there has been a five percent increase in the number of people that prefer Abbott and a decrease in the number of people that don’t know (-5%).
Results followed party lines – 92% of Labor voters chose Rudd and 74% of Coalition voters chose Abbott.
64% of Green voters selected Rudd and 11% of Green voters selected Abbott.
People aged 65 years and over were more likely to think Abbott would make a better Prime Minister (42%), 18 – 24 year olds were more likely to indicate they don’t know who would make a better Prime Minister (28%). Comments »
Better Prime Minister – Abbott or Gillard
Q. Who do you think would be the best Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard?
| % | |
| Tony Abbott | 37% |
| Julia Gillard | 47% |
| Don’t know | 17% |
Just under half (47%) of those surveyed think that Gillard would make a better Prime Minister, 37% selected Abbott and 17% don’t know.
Results followed party lines – 78% of Labor voters selected Gillard and 79% of Coalition voters selected Abbott.
61% of Green voters think that Gillard would make a better Prime Minister than Abbott.
Males were more likely than females to select Abbott (40% v 34%). 46% of males and 47% of females chose Gillard.
People aged 65 years and over were more likely to think Abbott would make a better Prime Minister (47%) and people aged 18 – 24 were more likely to indicate they don’t know (31%). Comments »
Parental leave policy
Q. The Opposition leader Tony Abbott has proposed a scheme to give new parents 26 weeks leave at their normal rate of pay to be paid for by a 1.7 per cent levy on large companies. The Rudd Government plans to introduce a scheme to give new parents 18 weeks leave at the minimum wage rate paid for by the Government. Which scheme do you support more?
| % | |
| The Government’s scheme | 40% |
| The Opposition’s scheme | 24% |
| Neither | 27% |
| Don’t know | 10% |
40% of respondents supported the Government parent leave scheme, 24% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 27% supported neither.
Among labor voters, 61% supported the Government scheme and 15% supported the Opposition’s. However, only 37% of Coalition voters supported the Opposition’s scheme – 20% supported the Government scheme and 35% supported neither.
Young people were more likely to support the Opposition’s scheme – of those aged under 35, 35% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 39% the Government’s. Older respondents were more likely to support neither scheme – of those aged 45-64, 36% supported neither scheme, 42% the Government scheme and 14% the Opposition’s. Men and women showed similar levels of support. Comments »
Attributes to describe the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?
| 7 Dec 09 | 1 March 10 | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 71% | 71% | – |
| Hard-working | 69% | 69% | – |
| A capable leader | 46% | 49% | +3% |
| Demanding | 53% | 55% | +2% |
| Arrogant | 53% | 53% | – |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 53% | 50% | -3% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 46% | 49% | +3% |
| Visionary | 34% | 33% | -1% |
| Superficial | 42% | 43% | +1% |
| Good in a crisis | 39% | 38% | -1% |
| Narrow-minded | 52% | 57% | +5% |
| Down to earth | 46% | 46% | – |
| Too inflexible | 45% | 49% | +4% |
| Complacent | 31% | 33% | +2% |
| More honest than most politicians | 31% | 34% | +3% |
| Trustworthy | 36% | 38% | +2% |
Since we asked this question in December 2007, Abbott has gained the most points when it comes to appearing narrow minded (+5%) and appearing too inflexible (+4%).
When it comes to positive traits, Abbott has gained some ground in terms of appearing as a capable leader (+3%) who understands the problems facing Australia (+3%) and more honest than most politicians (+3%). Comments »
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