Q.  Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?

 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 »

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

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 »

Q. Who would you trust more to handle Australia’s relations with other nations?

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 »

Q. Do you think the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is spending too much time on activities not related to his job as Opposition Leader?

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 »

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?

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 »

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

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 »

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?

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 »

Q.  Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?

 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 »