asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, Greens, Labor, Liberal
Q. Which party would you trust most to handle the issue of asylum seekers?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The Labor Party | 25% | 57% | 2% | 38% |
| The Liberal Party | 37% | 8% | 80% | 8% |
| No difference | 25% | 27% | 11% | 46% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
37% of respondents trust the Liberal Party most to handle the asylum seeker issue and 25% trust the Labor Party most.
57% of Labor voters trust the Labor Party most and 80% of Liberal/National voters trust the Liberal Party most. 46% of Greens voters and 55% of other voters think there is no difference between the Labor and Liberal Parties on the issue.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, EMC, ER, essential report, Federal Government, Labor, Labor Party
Q. Thinking about the way the Federal Government has handled the asylum seeker issue recently, do you think they have been too tough, too weak or have they taken about the right approach?
| % | |
| Too tough | 9% |
| Too weak | 52% |
| Taken about the right approach | 28% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
Just over half (52%) think that the Federal Government has been too weak in how it has handled the asylum seeker issue recently, 28% think the Government have taken the right approach and 9% think they have been too tough.
Males were more likely than females to think the Federal Government has been too weak (55% v 49%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely than 18 – 24 year olds to think the Government’s action has been too weak (64% v 32%).
Labor voters were more likely to think the Federal Government has taken about the right approach (43%), Coalition voters were more likely to think the Government has been too weak (76%) and Green voters were more likely to think the Government’s approach has been too tough (33%).
43% of Labor voters think the Federal Government has been too weak in its handling of the asylum seeker issue recently.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum, asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, EMC, ER, essential report, Labor, Liberal
Q. Which party do you think would be best at handling the issue of asylum seekers?
| % | |
| Labor | 23% |
| Liberal | 27% |
| No difference | 37% |
| Don’t know | 13% |
27% of people surveyed think Liberal is the best party at handling the issue of asylum seekers, 23% think Labor is and 37% think there is no difference in how the two major parties would handle the issue.
Attitudes followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to prefer Liberal (65%) and Labor voters more likely to prefer Labor (65%).
54% of Green, 38% of Labor voters and 24% of Coalition voters think there is no difference between how Liberal or Labor would handle the issue of asylum seekers.
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think Liberal would be best (36% Liberal to 22% Labor), while people aged under 35 were more likely to think Labor would be best at handling the issue of asylum seekers (27% Labor to 20% Liberal).
Males were more likely to think Liberal would be the party best to handle the issue (31%), while females were more likely to think there is no difference (40%).