View of Tony Abbott
If a little more or much more favourable –
Q. And which of the following would you say has been the main reason for your view of Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party becoming more favourable in recent weeks?
| Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians | 21% |
| They would cut Government spending | 20% |
| They oppose the 40% tax on mining companies | 15% |
| They would be tough on asylum seekers | 12% |
| Liberal Party is more united under Tony Abbott | 11% |
| They oppose introduction of ETS to address climate change | 9% |
| Some other reason | 4% |
| No particular reason | 8% |
Sample size = 269
The main reasons for having a more favourable view of Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party were that Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians (21%) and the Liberals would cut Government spending (20%). Opposing the 40% tax on mining companies rated third with 15%.
For Coalition voters the main reasons were that Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians (24%) and the Liberals would cut Government spending (24%).
27% of those on higher incomes (over $1,000 pw) said Tony Abbott is more in touch with ordinary Australians compared to 12% of those on lower incomes (under $1,000 pw). Comments »
Important Election Issues
Q8. Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election? (Number from 1 to 3 where 1 is the most important, 2 the second most important, etc)
| One | Two | Three | Total | Total
25 Jan 10 |
Difference | |
| Management of the economy | 34% | 18% | 10% | 62% | 63% | -1% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 14% | 20% | 16% | 50% | 48% | +2% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 8% | 10% | 11% | 29% | 33% | -4% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 5% | 8% | 9% | 22% | 18% | +4% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 3% | 7% | 9% | 19% | 23% | -4% |
| Housing affordability | 6% | 5% | 6% | 17% | 14% | +3% |
| Controlling interest rates | 5% | 5% | 6% | 16% | 15% | +1% |
| Managing population growth | 3% | 4% | 7% | 14% | * | |
| Protecting the environment | 3% | 5% | 5% | 13% | 16% | -3% |
| Political leadership | 5% | 3% | 4% | 12% | 23% | -11% |
| Addressing climate change | 4% | 4% | 4% | 12% | 16% | -4% |
| Fair immigration policies | 3% | 4% | 3% | 10% | * | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 2% | 4% | 3% | 9% | 10% | -1% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 2% | 2% | 3% | 7% | 12% | -5% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 2% | 2% | 3% | 7% | 9% | -2% |
*Not asked in January 2010 poll
62% of people surveyed rate management of the economy is one of their three most important issues, followed by 50% that rate ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system and 29% that rate Australian jobs and protection of local industries as one of their three most important issues.
Only 9% rate a fair industrial relations system as one of their three most important issues and 7% rate security and the war on terrorism and ensuring a quality water supply.
The major change since the previous survey in January, was a drop in the importance of political leadership from 23% to 12%. Ensuring a fairer tax system has risen slightly from 18% to 22%. Comments »
Approval of ETS Decision
Q. The Federal Government has announced that it has postponed introducing an emissions trading scheme (ETS) to address climate change for 3 years. Do you approve or disapprove of the Government’s decision not to introduce an ETS for 3 years?
| Total | Labor voters | Lib/Nat voters | Greens voters | |
| Total approve | 38% | 40% | 47% | 21% |
| Total disapprove | 41% | 40% | 37% | 76% |
| Strongly approve | 12% | 9% | 19% | 7% |
| Approve | 26% | 31% | 28% | 14% |
| Disapprove | 27% | 31% | 25% | 30% |
| Strongly disapprove | 14% | 9% | 12% | 46% |
| Don’t know | 22% | 20% | 16% | 4% |
Opinions are divided over the Government postponing a decision on introducing an ETS – 38% approve and 41% disapprove.
Labor voters are evenly split (40% approve/40% disapprove) while Liberal/National voters are a little more likely to approve (47% approve/37% disapprove). 76% of Greens voters disapprove and 21% approve.
46% of men approve (39% disapprove) compared to 31% of women (43% disapprove). Comments »
Liberal Party climate change policy
Q. Do you approve or disapprove the Liberal Party’s new policy on addressing climate change announced by Tony Abbott this week?
| % | |
| Total approve | 34% |
| Total disapprove | 29% |
| Strongly approve | 9% |
| Approve | 25% |
| Disapprove | 17% |
| Strongly disapprove | 12% |
| Don’t know | 37% |
34% of people approve of the Liberal Party’s new policy on addressing climate change, 29% disapprove and 37% don’t know.
Coalition voters were more likely to approve the Liberal Party’s policy to address climate change (68%), while Labor and Green voters were more likely to disapprove (51% Labor, 47% Green).
Males were more likely to approve of the Coalitions’ policy (44%), while females were more likely to indicate they don’t know (49%). Comments »
Party with best climate change policy
Q. Which party do you think has the best policy for addressing climate change?
| % | 7 December 2009* | % | ||
| The Liberals | 25% | Tony Abbott and the Coalition | 27% | |
| Labor | 19% | Kevin Rudd and Labor | 24% | |
| The Greens | 17% | Bob Brown and Greens | 17% | |
| Don’t know | 39% | Don’t know | 32% |
Most people (39%) don’t know which party has the best policy for addressing climate change. One quarter (25%) think the Liberal Party has the best policy, 19% think Labor does and 17% think the Greens have the best policy for addressing climate change.
Results followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to think the Liberal Party has the best policy (58%), Labor voters were more likely to think Labor (44%), and Green voters were more likely to think the Greens have the best policy for addressing climate change (78%).
Males were more likely to think that the Liberal Party has the best policy (32%), while females were more likely to indicate that they don’t know which party has the best policy for addressing climate change (48%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to favour the Liberal Party’s policy when it comes to addressing climate change policy (37%), while people aged 25 – 34 were more likely to favour Labor (22%).
In December 2009, Essential Research put a similar question to the Australian public asking people to indicate whose position on the ETS and addressing climate change they most agree with. The results obtained this week are reasonably similar to those obtained previously for both the Liberal Party and the Greens. However the most notable difference is the result for Labor, with a 5% decrease since December. Comments »
Issues of importance
Q. Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election? (Number from 1 to 3 where 1 is the most important, 2 the second most important, etc)
| One | Two | Three | Total | |
| Management of the economy | 36% | 17% | 10% | 63% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 14% | 17% | 17% | 48% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 8% | 13% | 12% | 33% |
| Political leadership | 10% | 7% | 6% | 23% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 5% | 8% | 10% | 23% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 4% | 5% | 9% | 18% |
| Protecting the environment | 4% | 7% | 5% | 16% |
| Addressing climate change | 6% | 5% | 5% | 16% |
| Controlling interest rates | 3% | 6% | 6% | 15% |
| Housing affordability | 3% | 4% | 7% | 14% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 3% | 4% | 5% | 12% |
| A fair industrial relations system | 3% | 4% | 3% | 10% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 2% | 4% | 3% | 9% |
63% of people surveyed rate management of the economy as one of their three most important issues, followed by 48% that rate ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system and 33% that rate Australian jobs and protection of local industries as one of their three most important issues.
10% rate a fair industrial relations system as one of their three most important issues that would decide how they vote in a Federal election and 9% rate security and the war on terrorism. Comments »
Party best at
Q. Which party do you think is best at handling each of the following issues?
| Labor | Liberal | Labor margin | No difference | Don’t know | Labor margin Oct 09 | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 42% | 23% | +19% | 19% | 16% | +27% |
| Addressing climate change | 35% | 16% | +19% | 29% | 19% | +18% |
| Protecting the environment | 32% | 15% | +17% | 34% | 19% | +21% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 35% | 22% | +13% | 26% | 17% | +17% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 32% | 20% | +12% | 32% | 17% | +17% |
| Political leadership | 36% | 25% | +11% | 23% | 16% | +20% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 24% | 17% | +7% | 38% | 20% | +13% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 27% | 21% | +6% | 34% | 19% | +10% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 30% | 24% | +6% | 28% | 18% | +8% |
| Housing affordability | 23% | 19% | +4% | 38% | 20% | +9% |
| Management of the economy | 28% | 35% | -7% | 20% | 16% | – |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 18% | 25% | -7% | 38% | 19% | +2% |
| Controlling interest rates | 20% | 28% | -8% | 34% | 18% | – |
Labor has its strongest lead over the Liberal Party when it comes to a fair industrial relations system (+19%), addressing climate change (+19%) and protecting the environment (+17%). Labor trails the Liberal Party in terms of controlling interest rates (-8%), security and the war on terrorism (-7%) and management of the economy (-7%).
Since October 2009, Labor has lost the margin it had over the Liberal Party in some areas, most significantly in the areas of political leadership (-9%), a fair industrial relations system (-8%), ensuring a quality water supply (-6%).
Results followed party lines with Labor voters tending to favour the Labor Party and Liberal voters favouring the Liberal Party. Comments »
Addressing climate change
Q. The Federal Government says placing a price on carbon is crucial to addressing climate change as there must be a strong incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors to achieve the cuts necessary. The Opposition says the Government’s plan to include a price on carbon as part of its proposed emissions trading scheme is nothing more than a new tax. Do you agree more with the Government or more with the Opposition?
| % | |
| Agree more with the Government | 30% |
| Agree more with the Opposition | 45% |
| Don’t know | 24% |
Just under half (48%) of those surveyed agree with the Opposition’s view that the Government’s plan to include a price on carbon as part of its proposed emissions trading scheme is nothing more than a new tax. 30% agree with the Federal Government’s view that placing a price on carbon is crucial to addressing climate change as there must be a strong incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors to achieve the cuts necessary. Just under one quarter (24%) don’t know whether they agree with the Government or the Opposition on the issue of placing a price on carbon.
Labor voters were more likely to agree with the Government’s view (58%) while Coalition voters were more likely to agree with the Opposition (78%). 22% of Labor voters agree with the Opposition’s view that placing a price on carbon is nothing more than a new tax.
44% of Green voters agree with the Government and 37% of these same voters agree with the Opposition.
Males were more likely to agree with the Government (34%) while females were more likely to indicate they don’t know (28%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to agree with the Opposition’s view on the issue (60%) while those aged 18 – 24 were more likely to agree with the Government (38%). Comments »
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 14 May 2019
In this week's report:
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