Australian economy, economy, Essential Report, GFC, global financial crisis, Government spending
Q. If the world has another GFC (Global Financial Crisis) and the Australian economy worsens, which of the following actions would be more likely to protect jobs and help the economy?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Increase Government spending on new infrastructure and services | 48% | 62% | 42% | 53% |
| Cut spending on infrastructure and services | 22% | 13% | 31% | 19% |
| Don’t know | 30% | 24% | 28% | 28% |
Respondents were more likely to want the Government to increase spending if there was another GFC. Support for increased spending was strongest among Labor voters (62%), men (55%) full-time workers (53%) and people earning over $1,600pw (55%).
Australian economy, Essential Report, financial situation, GFC, global financial crisis
Q. How concerned are you about the impact of current movements in the share market on your financial situation?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Income les than $600pw | Income $600-$1,000pw | Income $1,000-$1,600pw | Income over $1,600pw | |
| Very concerned | 16% | 13% | 21% | 6% | 12% | 17% | 16% | 16% |
| Somewhat concerned | 23% | 22% | 25% | 12% | 16% | 28% | 25% | 23% |
| A little concerned | 29% | 30% | 30% | 28% | 29% | 26% | 30% | 28% |
| Not at all concerned | 26% | 28% | 20% | 47% | 33% | 24% | 23% | 28% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 7% | 4% | 7% | 9% | 5% | 6% | 6% |
16% said they were very concerned and 23% somewhat concerned about the impact of current movements in the share market on your financial situation. 55% were only a little or not at all concerned.
Apart from those on very low incomes, there was not much difference across income groups – 28% of those earning under $600pw were very/somewhat concerned compared to 45% of those earning $600-1,000, 41% of those earning $1,000-1,600 and 39% of those on $1,600+.
Older respondents tended to be more concerned – 49% of those aged 55+ were very/somewhat concerned compared to 32% of 18-34’s and 38% of 35-54’s.
Australian economy, economy, Essential Report, GFC, global financial crisis, Polling, polls, spending and income
Q. Thinking about the state of the world economy, how do you think the Australian economy has performed over the last few years compared to other countries?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total better | 70% | 77% | 70% | 85% |
| Total worse | 10% | 5% | 14% | 5% |
| A lot better | 31% | 41% | 27% | 48% |
| A little better | 39% | 36% | 43% | 37% |
| About the same | 16% | 17% | 15% | 8% |
| A little worse | 7% | 4% | 9% | 2% |
| A lot worse | 3% | 1% | 5% | 3% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 1% | 1% | 4% |
70% think that Australia’s economy has performed better than other countries over the last few years, 16% say about the same and 10% think it has been worse.
There were no substantial differences across demographic groups although those on higher incomes are a little more likely to believe it has performed better – 76% of those on incomes over $1,600pw compared to 67% of those earning under $1,000pw.
Australian economy, economic issues, economy, Essential Report, federal politics, Government performance, Polling, polls
Q. How do you think the Australia Government has handled our economy over the last few years?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total well | 54% | 82% | 34% | 81% |
| Total poorly | 39% | 13% | 62% | 12% |
| Very well | 9% | 22% | 2% | 16% |
| Quite well | 45% | 60% | 32% | 65% |
| Quite poorly | 26% | 11% | 39% | 8% |
| Very poorly | 13% | 2% | 23% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 6% | 4% | 7% |
54% think the Australian Government has handled the economy very well or quite well over the last few years and 39% very poorly or quite poorly. 82% of Labor voters, 81% of Greens voters and 34% of Liberal/National voters think the Government has handled the economy well. 62% of Liberal/National voters think the Government has handled the economy poorly.
60% of those aged under 35 think the Government has handled the economy well, compared to 51% of those aged 35-54 and 51% of those aged 55+
Australian economy, Essential Report, GFC, Labor, Liberal, Polling, polls, the economy
Q. If there is another Global Financial Crisis, which party would you trust most to deal with it?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The Labor Party | 31% | 75% | 4% | 61% |
| The Liberal Party | 40% | 4% | 82% | 5% |
| No difference | 20% | 13% | 11% | 27% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 8% | 4% | 8% |
If there was another GFC, 40% would trust the Liberal Party more to handle it and 31% would trust the Labor Party more. When a similar question was asked last week, the results were 27% Labor/43% Liberal.
The only demographic groups trusting the Labor Party more were aged 18-24 (Labor 37%/Liberals 29%) and those earning less than $600pw (Labor 41%/Liberals 32%).
Australian economy, economy, Essential Report, GFC, global, Polling, polls
Q. From what you have read and heard, how would you rate the state of the economy of Australia?
And how would you rate the state of the economy of the USA?
And how would you rate the state of the economies of the European countries?
| Australia | USA | Europe | |
| Total getting better | 32% | 5% | 5% |
| Total getting worse | 37% | 84% | 70% |
| Getting a lot better | 7% | 1% | 1% |
| Getting a little better | 25% | 4% | 4% |
| Neither getting better nor worse | 28% | 7% | 14% |
| Getting a little worse | 27% | 26% | 27% |
| Getting a lot worse | 10% | 58% | 43% |
| Don’t know | 2% | 4% | 10% |
A majority believe that Australia’s economy is getting better but the economies of USA and Europe are getting worse.
53% of respondents think the Australian economy is getting better and 12% think it is getting worse. 62% think the USA economy is getting worse and 53% think the economies of European countries are getting worse.
For Australia, 63% of Labor voters, 66% of Greens voters and 44% of Liberal/National voters think the economy is getting better. Younger respondents were most optimistic about the Australian economy – 60% of those aged under 35 think it is getting better compared to 46% of those aged 55+.
Australian economy, economic impact, economic issues, Essential Report, GFC, global financial crisis, Polling, polls
Q. How much impact do you think the economies of other countries have on Australia’s economy?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| A lot | 47% | 44% | 49% | 46% |
| Some | 41% | 44% | 42% | 48% |
| A little | 8% | 10% | 7% | 6% |
| None | * | – | – | – |
| Don’t know | 3% | 2% | 2% | – |
47% think that the economies of other countries have a lot of impact on the Australian economy and 41% think they have some impact. Only 8% think they have little or no impact. There were no major differences across demographic groups.
Australian economy, economy, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. Overall, from what you have read and heard, do you think the Australian economy is heading in the right direction or the wrong direction?
| 17 May 10
(Post 2010 budget) |
9 May 11
(Post 2011 budget) |
4 Jul 11 | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| The right direction | 51% | 45% | 37% | 66% | 21% | 49% |
| The wrong direction | 25% | 29% | 43% | 15% | 65% | 20% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 25% | 20% | 19% | 14% | 31% |
37% of respondents think that Australia’s economy is heading in the right direction – 43% think it is heading in the wrong direction. Since this question was asked just after the 2011 budget, “right direction” has dropped 8% and “wrong direction” increased 14%.
66% of Labor voters, 21% of Liberal/National voters and 49% of Greens voters think the economy is heading in the right direction.