banks, business, influence, media, mining, parties, religious, unions
Q. How much influence do you think the following groups have on the policies of Australian political parties?
| Too much | About the right amount | Not enough | Don’t know | |
| The media | 53% | 27% | 5% | 15% |
| Banks | 50% | 28% | 5% | 18% |
| Business lobby groups | 40% | 33% | 5% | 21% |
| Mining companies | 40% | 33% | 10% | 17% |
| Unions | 40% | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| Religious groups | 38% | 29% | 11% | 21% |
| Environment groups | 25% | 31% | 29% | 15% |
About half the respondents believed that the media (53%) and banks (50%) have too much influence on the policies of Australian political parties.
40% believed that business lobby groups, mining companies and unions have too much influence.
Only 25% thought environmental groups have too much influence and 29% think they have not enough influence.
There were substantial differences by party preference on the influence of business lobby groups (Labor 52% too much, Lib/Nat 28%), unions (26%/61%), and mining companies (57%/26%). However, there was little difference on the perceived influence of the media (Labor 57% too much, Lib/Nat 56%) and banks (53%/51%). Comments »