Q. How important is the asylum seeker issue of in deciding which party you will vote for in the Federal election?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote other | Jun 2013 | |||
| The most important issue | 7% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 9% | 6% | ||
| One of the most important issues | 29% | 23% | 35% | 38% | 28% | 28% | ||
| Quite important but not as important as other issues | 37% | 44% | 36% | 33% | 33% | 37% | ||
| Not very important | 10% | 11% | 11% | 13% | 9% | 14% | ||
| Not at all important | 9% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 17% | 10% | ||
| Don’t know | 8% | 5% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 5% |
36% of respondents think the asylum seeker issue is the most important or one of the most important election issues.
43% of Liberal/National voters think it is one of or the most important issues.
These results are very similar to those from June 2013.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seeker issue, asylum seeker policy
Q. Which of the following words would you use to describe the Government’s handling of the issue of asylum seekers?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
|
Men |
Women |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
|
| Responsible |
45% |
26% |
75% |
14% |
42% |
50% |
40% |
30% |
43% |
64% |
||
| Fair |
45% |
25% |
76% |
10% |
44% |
48% |
41% |
29% |
43% |
66% |
||
| Too secretive |
45% |
69% |
16% |
75% |
54% |
44% |
46% |
50% |
45% |
40% |
||
| Just playing politics |
45% |
65% |
20% |
66% |
56% |
48% |
41% |
51% |
45% |
36% |
||
| Principled |
43% |
28% |
69% |
25% |
29% |
49% |
36% |
30% |
45% |
54% |
||
| Stubborn |
42% |
57% |
24% |
72% |
44% |
43% |
41% |
47% |
39% |
42% |
||
| Balanced |
37% |
20% |
65% |
13% |
26% |
42% |
32% |
23% |
37% |
54% |
||
| Unethical |
33% |
50% |
10% |
69% |
37% |
32% |
35% |
41% |
32% |
26% |
||
| Populist |
31% |
38% |
23% |
37% |
37% |
36% |
25% |
28% |
33% |
31% |
||
| Cruel |
30% |
46% |
10% |
64% |
34% |
29% |
32% |
39% |
29% |
23% |
||
| Too hard |
29% |
44% |
10% |
61% |
32% |
27% |
31% |
36% |
28% |
23% |
||
| Too soft |
26% |
22% |
30% |
12% |
37% |
29% |
24% |
19% |
27% |
34% |
Respondents were more likely to describe the Government’s handling of the issue of asylum seekers as “responsible” and “fair” but also as “too secretive” and “just playing politics” (all 45%). 26% describe their handling of the issue as “too soft”, 29% as “too hard” and 30% as “cruel”.
Liberal/National voters were most likely to think the handling was “fair” (76%) and “responsible” (75%).
Labor voters were most likely to think the handling was “too secretive” (69%) and “just playing politics” (65%).
Greens voters were most likely to think the handling was “too secretive” (75%), “stubborn” (72%) and “unethical” (69%).
Of those aged under 35, only 23% thought the handling of the issue was “balanced” and 29% thought it was “fair”.
asylum seeker issue, asylum seeker policy
Q. How would you rate the performance of the Federal Liberal/National Government in handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat?
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
5 Mar |
|
| Total good |
41% |
19% |
76% |
8% |
41% |
39% |
||
| Total poor |
35% |
54% |
7% |
74% |
34% |
38% |
||
| Very good |
24% |
6% |
52% |
6% |
21% |
18% |
||
| Good |
17% |
13% |
24% |
2% |
20% |
21% |
||
| Neither good nor poor |
18% |
20% |
14% |
10% |
21% |
18% |
||
| Poor |
12% |
20% |
4% |
6% |
15% |
15% |
||
| Very poor |
23% |
34% |
3% |
68% |
19% |
23% |
||
| Don’t know |
7% |
8% |
2% |
7% |
4% |
5% |
41% (up 2% since March) think the Government’s performance in handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat has been good and 35% (down 3%) think it has been poor.
Those most likely to think it has been good were Liberal/National voters (76%) and aged 55+ (54%).
Those most likely to think it has been poor were Labor voters (54%) and Greens voters (74%).
asylum seeker issue, boats, Coalition government
Q. How would you rate the performance of the Federal Liberal/National Government in handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat?
|
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
| Total good |
39% |
15% |
72% |
7% |
36% |
|
| Total poor |
38% |
60% |
10% |
87% |
42% |
|
| Very good |
18% |
4% |
37% |
4% |
16% |
|
| Good |
21% |
11% |
35% |
3% |
20% |
|
| Neither good nor poor |
18% |
19% |
14% |
4% |
19% |
|
| Poor |
15% |
22% |
8% |
18% |
16% |
|
| Very poor |
23% |
38% |
2% |
69% |
26% |
|
| Don’t know |
5% |
6% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
39% think the Government’s performance in handling the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat has been good and 38% think it has been poor.
Those most likely to think it has been good were Liberal/National voters (72%) and aged 55+ (52%).
Those most likely to think it has been poor were Labor voters (60%), Greens voters (87%) and aged under 35 (47%).
29 July 2013, 290713, asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, Important election issues
Q. How important is the asylum seeker issue of in deciding which party you will vote for in the Federal election?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
17 Jun 13 |
|
| The most important issue |
7% |
6% |
8% |
4% |
6% |
||
| One of the most important issues |
28% |
27% |
31% |
34% |
28% |
||
| Quite important but not as important as other issues |
35% |
40% |
36% |
33% |
37% |
||
| Not very important |
16% |
16% |
16% |
19% |
14% |
||
| Not at all important |
8% |
7% |
8% |
9% |
10% |
||
| Don’t know |
6% |
4% |
1% |
1% |
5% |
35% of respondents think the asylum seeker issue is the most important or one of the most important election issues.
39% of Liberal/National voters think it is one of or the most important issues.
asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, boat people, Essential Report, Polling, polls
Q. Actually, the number of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat has fallen by more than half in 2011 compared to 2010. Based on that information, now how concerned are you about the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Very concerned | 33% | 24% | 43% | 9% |
| Somewhat concerned | 25% | 27% | 30% | 11% |
| A little concerned | 20% | 23% | 17% | 26% |
| Not at all concerned | 19% | 25% | 8% | 50% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 2% | 1% | 3% |
When told that the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat had fallen by more than half, 33% said they were very concerned (down 10% from the earlier question), 25% somewhat concerned (up 1%) and 39% a little or not concerned (up 9%).
The shifts were similar across all demographic groups.
asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, boat people, Essential Report, Malaysia, Polling, polls, Processing Asylum Seekers, processing centre for asylum seekers, refugees
Q. The Government has recently made an agreement to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia for processing, and in return Australia will take a fixed number of refugees from Malaysia. Do you support or oppose this agreement?
| 16 June 11 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 40% | 31% | 50% | 25% | 19% |
| Total oppose | 39% | 53% | 31% | 67% | 60% |
| Strongly support | 13% | 6% | 9% | 4% | 3% |
| Support | 27% | 25% | 41% | 21% | 16% |
| Oppose | 22% | 23% | 17% | 24% | 35% |
| Strongly oppose | 17% | 30% | 14% | 43% | 25% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 16% | 18% | 9% | 21% |
31% support the agreement to send asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing and 53% oppose. This represents a significant increase in opposition to this scheme from that recorded 6 weeks ago – support is down 9% and opposition up 14%.
This shift is mainly due to changed opinions of Liberal/National voters. Support from Labor voters is up 3% to 50% while opposition from Liberal/National voters has increased by 22% to 67%. Opposition from Greens voters has also increased by 9% to 60%.
asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, detention centres, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Malaysia, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Heard a lot | Heard something | Heard a little/ nothing | |
| Total support | 40% | 47% | 40% | 27% | 34% | 42% | 46% |
| Total oppose | 39% | 33% | 45% | 51% | 60% | 39% | 28% |
| Strongly support | 13% | 13% | 15% | 4% | 14% | 11% | 15% |
| Support | 27% | 34% | 25% | 23% | 20% | 31% | 31% |
| Oppose | 22% | 21% | 24% | 31% | 26% | 24% | 20% |
| Strongly oppose | 17% | 12% | 21% | 20% | 34% | 15% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 20% | 14% | 23% | 6% | 19% | 27% |
40% support the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia and 39% oppose.
Those who say they have heard more about it are more likely to oppose this proposal. Only 34% of those who have heard a lot about it support the proposal compared to 46% of those who have heard a little or nothing. There were not substantial differences by gender or age.