Q. Which of the following approaches to debt and spending is closer to your view?
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
| Australia needs to spend whatever it takes to help the economy recover, and worry about how to repay the debt later | 20% | 24% | 16% | 26% | 21% | 13% | 19% | 21% | 23% | 14% | ||
| It’s ok for Australia to spend whatever it takes to help the economy recover, but there needs to be a clear plan for how we will repay the debt in the future | 65% | 63% | 66% | 61% | 63% | 70% | 66% | 67% | 64% | 62% | ||
| Now is the time to start repaying some of the debt | 16% | 14% | 18% | 14% | 16% | 17% | 15% | 12% | 13% | 25% | ||
| Base (n) | 1,100 | 539 | 561 | 341 | 379 | 380 | 369 | 410 | 105 | 112 | ||
Q. And which of the following is closest to your view on the best way to create jobs and grow the economy?
| May’21 | Oct’20 | |
| The government should directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers | 66% | 69% |
| The government should relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs | 17% | 19% |
| Unsure | 17% | 13% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 1,066 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | TOTAL:
Labor, Greens, Other |
||||||
| The government should directly invest in the economy by creating projects and jobs, and raise the standard of living for the majority of workers | 66% | 74% | 64% | 75% | 69% | 73% | ||||
| The government should relax regulation and lower taxes for the wealthy to encourage businesses to grow and create jobs | 17% | 13% | 23% | 15% | 17% | 14% | ||||
| Unsure | 17% | 13% | 13% | 10% | 14% | 12% | ||||
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 | 591 | ||||
Q. Which of the following indicators do you think is the most important when thinking about whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state?
| May’21 | Sep’20 | Sep’19 | |
| The unemployment rate | 25% | 39% | 25% |
| The cost of household bills | 20% | 13% | 22% |
| The size of the national deficit | 13% | – | – |
| The amount of homeless people on the streets | 11% | 8% | 10% |
| The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies | 8% | 12% | 13% |
| The gross domestic product per person | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia | 7% | 6% | 9% |
| The consumer price index | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening | 5% | 3% | 2% |
| The size of the national surplus | – | 6% | 6% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 1,081 | 1,097 |
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| The unemployment rate | 25% | 24% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 21% | 26% | 21% | 34% | 25% |
| The cost of household bills | 20% | 19% | 21% | 18% | 20% | 21% | 21% | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| The size of the national deficit | 13% | 10% | 15% | 8% | 13% | 17% | 10% | 15% | 7% | 17% |
| The amount of homeless people on the streets | 11% | 8% | 13% | 11% | 11% | 11% | 12% | 8% | 15% | 7% |
| The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies | 8% | 9% | 7% | 12% | 7% | 6% | 9% | 8% | 4% | 7% |
| The gross domestic product per person | 7% | 9% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 10% | 7% | 6% |
| The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia | 7% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 3% | 8% |
| The consumer price index | 5% | 7% | 3% | 6% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 8% | 3% |
| The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening | 5% | 6% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 9% |
| Base (n) | 1,092 | 536 | 556 | 340 | 372 | 380 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 |
Australian economy, State of the Economy
Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?
| Sep’20 | Sep’19 | May’18 | Nov’17 | May’17 | Dec’16 | |
| Very good | 8% | 5% | 8% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Quite good | 16% | 27% | 31% | 30% | 27% | 21% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 30% | 32% | 32% | 38% | 36% | 37% |
| Quite poor | 32% | 25% | 18% | 17% | 23% | 28% |
| Very poor | 14% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 8% |
| Unsure | 2% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% |
| NET: Good | 23% | 32% | 39% | 33% | 30% | 23% |
| NET: Poor | 46% | 33% | 24% | 24% | 29% | 36% |
| Base (n) | 1,081 | 1,097 | 1,033 | 1,021 | 1,007 | 1,001 |
| Total | Gender | Age | ||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| Very good | 8% | 11% | 4% | 9% | 12% | 1% |
| Quite good | 16% | 18% | 13% | 21% | 16% | 11% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 30% | 28% | 31% | 34% | 30% | 26% |
| Quite poor | 32% | 30% | 33% | 23% | 29% | 41% |
| Very poor | 14% | 12% | 16% | 9% | 12% | 20% |
| Unsure | 2% | 1% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 1% |
| NET: Good | 23% | 29% | 17% | 30% | 28% | 12% |
| NET: Poor | 46% | 42% | 49% | 33% | 41% | 61% |
| Base (n) | 1,081 | 539 | 542 | 338 | 374 | 369 |
| Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
| Labor | Coalition | Greens | Independent / Other | ||
| Very good | 8% | 4% | 10% | 7% | 9% |
| Quite good | 16% | 13% | 20% | 13% | 13% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 30% | 26% | 29% | 33% | 29% |
| Quite poor | 32% | 38% | 28% | 34% | 33% |
| Very poor | 14% | 18% | 12% | 12% | 16% |
| Unsure | 2% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 0% |
| NET: Good | 23% | 17% | 30% | 19% | 22% |
| NET: Poor | 46% | 56% | 39% | 46% | 49% |
| Base (n) | 1,081 | 298 | 460 | 115 | 104 |
Australian economy, State of the Economy
Q. Which of the following indicators do you think is the most important when thinking about whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state?
| Sep’20 | Sep’19 | |
| The unemployment rate | 39% | 25% |
| The cost of household bills | 13% | 22% |
| The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies | 12% | 13% |
| The amount of homeless people on the streets | 8% | 10% |
| The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia | 6% | 9% |
| The gross domestic product per person | 7% | 8% |
| The consumer price index | 6% | 6% |
| The size of the national surplus | 6% | 6% |
| The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening | 3% | 2% |
| Base (n) | 1,081 | 1,097 |
| Total | Gender | Age | ||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
| The unemployment rate | 39% | 34% | 44% | 38% | 42% | 38% |
| The cost of household bills | 13% | 12% | 14% | 14% | 14% | 11% |
| The value of the Australian dollar to international currencies | 12% | 13% | 10% | 19% | 9% | 8% |
| The amount of homeless people on the streets | 8% | 10% | 7% | 9% | 9% | 7% |
| The interest rate set by Reserve Bank of Australia | 6% | 5% | 6% | 2% | 7% | 8% |
| The gross domestic product per person | 7% | 9% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 10% |
| The consumer price index | 6% | 8% | 4% | 8% | 5% | 5% |
| The size of the national surplus | 6% | 5% | 8% | 4% | 5% | 9% |
| The number of new shops, restaurants and cafes opening | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| Base (n) | 1,081 | 539 | 542 | 338 | 374 | 369 |
Australian economy, jobkeeper, jobseeker
Q. On Tuesday July 21st, the government announced that JobKeeper payments and the increase to JobSeeker will be extended to March 2021 but that the rates for each will be reduced in October, and again in January. Eligibility for JobKeeper will remain the same, meaning that casual workers will not receive support.
To what extent do you support or oppose the changes to these schemes?
| TOTAL: Support | TOTAL: Oppose | Strongly support | Somewhat support | Neither support nor oppose | Somewhat oppose | Strongly oppose | |
| Businesses having to be re-tested for JobKeeper to ensure they are still eligible | 69% | 9% | 37% | 33% | 22% | 6% | 2% |
| The continuation of payments to March 2021 | 66% | 12% | 31% | 35% | 22% | 8% | 5% |
| The reduction in the amount of payments | 54% | 21% | 22% | 33% | 25% | 12% | 9% |
| Voting intention | |||||
| NET: Support | Total | Labor | NET: Coalition | Greens | NET: Other |
| Businesses having to be re-tested for JobKeeper to ensure they are still eligible | 69% | 70% | 76% | 58% | 72% |
| The continuation of payments to March 2021 | 66% | 72% | 65% | 78% | 60% |
| The reduction in the amount of payments | 54% | 49% | 67% | 33% | 62% |
| Base (n) | 1,058 | 334 | 428 | 81 | 107 |
Q. How would you rate the government’s management of the Australian economy compared to how governments in other countries around the world have managed their economies?
|
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
May 2013 |
May 2014 |
| Total Good |
39% |
21% |
68% |
25% |
19% |
39% |
40% |
||
| Total Poor |
28% |
44% |
7% |
52% |
38% |
32% |
31% |
||
| Very good |
11% |
5% |
22% |
4% |
2% |
11% |
9% |
||
| Good |
28% |
16% |
46% |
21% |
17% |
28% |
31% |
||
| Neither good nor poor |
28% |
31% |
24% |
18% |
34% |
24% |
24% |
||
| Poor |
15% |
22% |
6% |
20% |
20% |
17% |
14% |
||
| Very poor |
13% |
22% |
1% |
32% |
18% |
15% |
17% |
||
| Don’t know |
5% |
3% |
1% |
4% |
9% |
5% |
5% |
39% of Australians would rate the government’s management of the economy, compared to other countries around the world, as good.
28% would rate their management of the economy as poor.
There have been no major shifts in attitudes since this question was asked in May.
Labor (21%), Greens (25%) and other (19%) voters were less likely to rate the government’s management of the economy as ‘good’. Lib/Nat voters (68%) were more likely to rate the government’s management of the economy as ‘good’.
47% of those earning $1,600+ pw rate the government’s management ‘good’ and 35% of those earning less than $1,000 pw rate it ‘poor’.
Australian economy, China, foreign investment
Q. Do you think investment in mining and ports by Chinese companies is good or bad for the Australian economy?
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
| Total good |
38% |
37% |
50% |
34% |
29% |
|
| Total bad |
36% |
34% |
30% |
38% |
52% |
|
| Very good |
6% |
7% |
7% |
4% |
4% |
|
| Good |
32% |
30% |
43% |
30% |
25% |
|
| Bad |
22% |
24% |
18% |
24% |
28% |
|
| Very bad |
14% |
10% |
12% |
14% |
24% |
|
| Don’t know |
26% |
29% |
20% |
28% |
20% |
38% think that investment in mining and ports by Chinese companies is good for the Australian economy and 36% think it is bad.
Liberal/National voters are more likely to think it is good for the economy (50%), while Labor and Greens voters are almost evenly divided on this issue.
Those most likely to think it is good for the economy were men (48%) and full-time workers (46%). Those most likely to think it is bad were aged 55+ (46%).