Q. Thinking about the Federal Budget – how interested are you in reading and hearing about the Federal Budget?
| Very interested | 30% |
| Somewhat interested | 37% |
| A little interested | 22% |
| Not at all interested | 8% |
| Can’t say | 4% |
67% of respondents say they are very or somewhat interested in reading and hearing about the Federal Budget.
74% of both Labor and Liberal/National voters say they are interested.
73% of men and 60% of women are interested. Younger people are less interested – only 46% of those under 35 are interested compared to 81% of those aged 55+. Comments »
Q. Thinking about the Government budget set to be announced soon, which of the following is the most important thing the Government needs to do?
| May 2009 | April 2010 | Shift | |
| Cut spending so we don’t go further into debt | 24% | 32% | +8% |
| Assist those on low incomes by increasing payments to pensioners and the unemployed | 26% | 24% | -2% |
| Stimulate the economy by cutting income taxes | 25% | 20% | -5% |
| Increase Government spending to further stimulate economic growth | * | 9% | * |
| Stimulate the economy by giving assistance to businesses | 15% | 5% | -10% |
| Don’t know | 10% | 10% | – |
*Not asked in 2009 survey.
32% of people think that the most important thing that the Government needs to do in the upcoming budget is cut spending so we don’t go further into debt, 24% think increasing payments to pensioners and the unemployed is the most important thing the Government needs to do and 20% think the budget should include stimulating the economy by cutting income taxes.
Coalition voters were more likely to think the most important thing that should be included in the upcoming budget are cuts to spending so we don’t go further into debt (51%). Labor (33%) and Green (34%) voters were more likely to think that assisting those on low incomes by increasing payments to pensioners and unemployed is the most important thing the Government needs to do in the upcoming budget.
People aged 65 years and over were more likely to think that the most important thing the Government needs to do in the upcoming budget is assist those on low incomes by increasing payments to pensioners and the unemployed (40%). People aged 25 – 34 were more likely to think the most important budget measure should be cutting income taxes (33%).
People earning $600 – $1000 were more likely to support increased payments to pensioners (41%) while those on $1600+ were more likely to prefer cuts to income tax (26%).
The most significant shift since the 2009 survey is in terms of stimulating the economy by assisting business (-10%) and cut spending so we don’t go further into debt (+8%). Comments »
Q. If you had to choose, which of the following budget measures would you support?
| % | |
| Increase taxes for people on high incomes | 41% |
| Increase taxes on businesses | 8% |
| Cut Government spending | 41% |
| Don’t know | 10% |
41% support increased taxes for people on high incomes, a further 41% support cuts to Government spending, 8% support increased taxes on business and 10% don’t know which budget measure they support.
Labor voters were more likely to support increased taxes for people on high incomes (62%), Coalition voters were more likely to support cuts to Government spending (65%) and Green voters were more likely to support increased taxes on business (15%).
People earning $600 – $1000 per week were more likely to prefer increased taxes for people on high incomes (53%), while people earning $1600 per week or more were more likely to prefer cuts to Government spending (45%). Comments »
Q. If cost savings need to be made in the budget, in which area should spending cuts be made?
| % | |
| Defence and national security | 20% |
| Social security and welfare | 15% |
| Industry and employment | 7% |
| Community services | 6% |
| Infrastructure, transport and energy | 4% |
| Health | 3% |
| Education | 2% |
| None of these | 32% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
20% of people think that if savings need to be made in the budget, cuts should be made to defence and national security, 15% think cuts should be made to social security and welfare and 7% think that cuts should be made to industry and employment. There is little support for cuts to health (3%) or education (2%). 32% think that cuts should be made to none of the areas listed.
Green (38%) and Labor (25%) voters were more likely to support cuts to defence and national security. Coalition voters were more likely to support cuts to social security and welfare (20%) and community services (9%).
People aged 18 – 24 (28%) year olds and 25 – 34 (26%) were more likely to support cuts to defence and national security. Comments »
Q. Do you expect that the budget will be good or bad for you personally, or will it have no impact on you?
| May 2009 | April 2010 | |
| Total good | 19% | 11% |
| Total bad | 38% | 34% |
| Very good | 2% | 1% |
| Good | 17% | 10% |
| Bad | 30% | 27% |
| Very bad | 8% | 7% |
| No impact | 21% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 23% | 25% |
34% of people surveyed expect that the budget will be bad for them personally, 30% think the budget will have no impact, 11% think it will be good for them and 25% don’t know.
Coalition voters were more likely to think the budget will be bad for them personally (48%), while Labor (36%) and Green (45%) voters were more likely to think it will have no impact.
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think the budget will be bad for them personally.
Compared to the 2009 survey, the number of people that expect the budget will be good for them personally has decreased by eight percent and the number, the number that think it will be bad has decreased by four percent and the number that think it will have no impact has increased by nine percent. Comments »
Australian jobs, budget, economy, Industrial Relations, inflation, Interest rates, Labor, Liberal, party best at
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – would by best at the following –
| Labor | Liberal | No difference | Don’t know | |
| Being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to issues affecting them at the workplace | 48% | 18% | 24% | 10% |
| Handling the economy in a way that best protects ordinary working people in Australia | 39% | 30% | 20% | 11% |
| Creating jobs for Australian workers | 36% | 27% | 26% | 11% |
| Representing you and people like you | 35% | 30% | 24% | 11% |
| Handling the economy | 30% | 37% | 23% | 10% |
| Controlling inflation | 24% | 35% | 31% | 11% |
| Keeping interest rates low | 23% | 29% | 35% | 13% |
| Dealing with the budget and keeping government spending down in general | 22% | 42% | 26% | 10% |
Just under half (48%) of those surveyed think that Labor is the best party at being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to issues affecting them at the workplace, 39% think Labor is best at handling the economy in a way that protects ordinary working people in Australia.
The Liberal Party score highest in terms of dealing with the budget and keeping government spending down in general (42%) and handling the economy (37%).
In terms of being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to issues affecting them at the workplace, under half (46%) of Coalition voters surveyed think the Liberal Party is best at handling this, 33% of these voters think there is no difference and 16% of Coalition voters think Labor is best at being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to workplace issues. Comments »