Better Prime Minister
Q: Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten?
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
Sep 2015 |
Oct 2015 |
Nov 2015 |
Dec 2015 |
Jan 2016 |
Feb 2016 |
Mar 2016 |
|
Malcolm Turnbull | 44% | 17% | 79% | 31% | 37% | 53% | 48% | 55% | 54% | 51% | 52% | 48% | ||
Bill Shorten | 22% | 52% | 3% | 40% | 10% | 17% | 19% | 14% | 15% | 18% | 15% | 19% | ||
Don’t know | 34% | 31% | 18% | 29% | 53% | 30% | 33% | 31% | 31% | 31% | 33% | 33% |
44% (down 4%) of respondents think Malcolm Turnbull would make the better Prime Minister and 22% (up 3%) think Bill Shorten would make the better Prime Minister.
49% of men prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 22% prefer Bill Shorten.
39% of women prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 23% prefer Bill Shorten.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten?
Total | Vote Lab | Vote Lib/ Nat |
Vote Grn | Vote Other | Oct 2013 | June 2014 | Mar 2015 | Apr 2015 | May 2015 | Jun 2015 | Jul 2015 | |||
Tony Abbott | 36% | 9% | 83% | 3% | 24% | 41% | 36% | 33% | 32% | 35% | 38% | 37% | ||
Bill Shorten | 32% | 68% | 4% | 58% | 15% | 22% | 40% | 37% | 35% | 32% | 33% | 30% | ||
Don’t know | 31% | 23% | 14% | 40% | 61% | 37% | 24% | 30% | 33% | 33% | 29% | 33% |
36% (down 1% since July) of respondents think Tony Abbott would make the better Prime Minister and 32% (up 2%) think Bill Shorten would make the better Prime Minister.
37% of men prefer Tony Abbott and 33% prefer Bill Shorten – and women prefer Tony Abbott 36% to 32%.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten?
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
|
Oct 2013 |
Mar 2014 |
June 2014 |
Sep 2014 |
Oct 2014 |
Nov 2014 |
|
Tony Abbott |
31% |
4% |
74% |
3% |
22% |
41% |
39% |
36% |
35% |
38% |
36% |
||
Bill Shorten |
36% |
73% |
6% |
62% |
24% |
22% |
33% |
40% |
36% |
32% |
34% |
||
Don’t know |
33% |
23% |
20% |
34% |
54% |
37% |
28% |
24% |
30% |
30% |
29% |
31% (down 5% since November) of respondents think Tony Abbott would make the better Prime Minister and 36% (up 2%) think Bill Shorten would make the better Prime Minister.
35% of men prefer Tony Abbott and 35% prefer Bill Shorten – and women prefer Bill Shorten 37% to 27%.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
22 Oct 2013 |
12 Nov |
14 Jan 2014 |
11 Feb |
8 April |
|
Tony Abbott |
36% |
4% |
81% |
4% |
23% |
41% |
42% |
42% |
40% |
42% |
Bill Shorten |
37% |
74% |
3% |
60% |
35% |
22% |
27% |
31% |
30% |
32% |
Don’t know |
28% |
22% |
16% |
36% |
42% |
37% |
31% |
27% |
31% |
26% |
37% of Australians believe Bill Shorten would make a better Prime Minister than Tony Abbott. This is just 1% more than selected Tony Abbott (36%).
28% don’t know who would make a better Prime Minister.
Since this question was last asked in April 2014, Tony Abbott has dropped -6% as preferred Prime Minister (down from 42%) and Bill Shorten has gained +5% (up from 32%).
Males (38%) were slightly more likely than females (34%) to select Tony Abbott. There was no difference between the genders in their preference from Bill Shorten, with 37% of males and 36% of females selecting him. Females (30%) were more likely than males (25%) to select ‘don’t know’.
Those aged 55+ (51%) were more likely than those aged under 30 (26%) or 30-55 (32%) to select Tony Abbott.
Those aged 30-55 (42%) were more likely than those aged under 30 (31%) or 55+ 30%) to select Bill Shorten. A very large number of those aged under 30 selected don’t know (44%).
Those in NSW (42%) were far more likely than those in QLD (28%) or VIC (34%) to select Tony Abbott.
Those in QLD (44%) were more likely to select Bill Shorten (just 34% of those in NSW and 35% of those in VIC selected Bill Shorten).
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
|
22 Oct 2013 |
12 Nov |
14 Jan 2014 |
11 Feb |
11 Mar |
|
Tony Abbott |
42% |
9% |
88% |
14% |
29% |
41% |
42% |
42% |
40% |
39% |
|
Bill Shorten |
32% |
67% |
3% |
54% |
23% |
22% |
27% |
31% |
30% |
33% |
|
Don’t know |
26% |
25% |
8% |
31% |
49% |
37% |
31% |
27% |
31% |
28% |
42% (up 3%) think Tony Abbott would make the better Prime Minister and 32% (down 1%) favour Bill Shorten. 26% could not make a choice.
Tony Abbott is favoured 47%/29% among men and 37%/34% among women.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
22 Oct 2013 |
12 Nov |
10 Dec |
14 Jan 2014 |
11 Feb |
|
Tony Abbott |
39% |
6% |
83% |
12% |
28% |
41% |
42% |
43% |
42% |
40% |
Bill Shorten |
33% |
67% |
2% |
58% |
30% |
22% |
27% |
33% |
31% |
30% |
Don’t know |
28% |
27% |
15% |
29% |
42% |
37% |
31% |
24% |
27% |
31% |
39% (down 1%) think Tony Abbott would make the better Prime Minister and 33% (up 3%) favour Bill Shorten. 28% could not make a choice.
Tony Abbott is favoured 41%/35% among men and 36%/31% among women.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten?
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
|
22 Oct 2013 |
12 Nov |
10 Dec |
14 Jan 2014 |
|
Tony Abbott |
40% |
9% |
83% |
14% |
17% |
41% |
42% |
43% |
42% |
||
Bill Shorten |
30% |
64% |
1% |
50% |
22% |
22% |
27% |
33% |
31% |
||
Don’t know |
31% |
26% |
16% |
36% |
60% |
37% |
31% |
24% |
27% |
40% (down 2%) think Tony Abbott would make the better Prime Minister and 30% (down 1%) favour Bill Shorten. 31% (up 4%) could not make a choice.
Tony Abbott is favoured 43%/29% among men and 36%/30% among women.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten?
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ indep-endent |
|
22 Oct |
12 Nov |
10 Dec |
|
Tony Abbott |
42% |
11% |
84% |
7% |
28% |
41% |
42% |
43% |
||
Bill Shorten |
31% |
62% |
3% |
56% |
25% |
22% |
27% |
33% |
||
Don’t know |
27% |
27% |
12% |
37% |
48% |
37% |
31% |
24% |
42% (down 1%) think Tony Abbott would make the better Prime Minister and 31% (down 2%) favour Bill Shorten. 27% (up 3%) could not make a choice.
Tony Abbott is favoured 49%/30% among men and 36%/31% among women.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Better leadership during Covid-19 – PM vs state leader
- Attitudes towards Craig Kelly controversy and Scott Morrison’s leadership
- Views towards federal vs state government responsibility to manage Covid-19 hotel quarantine system
Essential Tags
Recent Comments
