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Better leadership during Covid-19 – PM vs state leader

Feb 16, 2021

Q. Who do you think has demonstrated better leadership qualities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia?

	TOTAL: All states
Prime Minister Scott Morrison	30%
TOTAL: State Premier / Chief Minister	52%
Don’t know	19%
Base (n)	1,109

The majority of people (52%) think their state leaders have demonstrated better leadership qualities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia than the Prime Minister.
About a third (30%) think the opposite is true – that the PM has performed better than state leaders and 19% don’t know.
The pattern of people thinking their state leader has demonstrated better leadership qualities throughout the pandemic than the Prime Minister is consistent across each state. This is most apparent in WA where 76% think their premier, Mark McGowan, has demonstrated better leadership than Scott Morrison.
Note: Due to small base sizes results for ACT, TAS and NT are not shown.

	TOTAL: NSW	TOTAL: VIC	TOTAL: QLD	TOTAL: SA	TOTAL: WA
Prime Minister Scott Morrison	29%	34%	32%	29%	19%
State Premier / Chief Minister	44%	49%	55%	50%	76%
Don’t know	27%	17%	13%	21%	5%
Base (n)	338	297	225	91	107

Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.

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Labor

47%

Coalition

44%