24 June 2013, 240613, age pension, Carbon Tax, dental health scheme, Labor decisions, Labor Government, NBN, Stimulus package, tax free threshold
Q. Thinking about the decisions the Labor Government has made over the last few years, do you think the following decisions were good or bad for Australia?
|
Total good |
Total bad |
Very good |
Good |
Neither good nor bad |
Bad |
Very bad |
Don’t know |
Sep 12 good |
Sep 12 bad |
|
| Expanding dental health services for people on low incomes |
73% |
8% |
28% |
45% |
15% |
4% |
4% |
5% |
77% |
5% |
| Increasing the tax free threshold from $6,000 to $18,200 |
72% |
8% |
34% |
38% |
15% |
5% |
3% |
5% |
75% |
4% |
| Increasing the age pension |
67% |
14% |
27% |
40% |
16% |
10% |
4% |
4% |
70% |
11% |
| Protecting large areas of Australia’s marine environment in a network of marine reserves |
66% |
10% |
27% |
39% |
19% |
6% |
4% |
5% |
67% |
8% |
| Introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme |
63% |
9% |
26% |
37% |
20% |
5% |
4% |
8% |
58% |
5% |
| Increasing superannuation from 9% to 12% |
62% |
14% |
24% |
38% |
19% |
10% |
4% |
5% |
68% |
9% |
| Stimulus spending to tackle the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) |
50% |
26% |
21% |
29% |
19% |
17% |
9% |
5% |
54% |
22% |
| Introducing a tax on large profits of mining companies |
49% |
27% |
21% |
28% |
20% |
15% |
12% |
5% |
49% |
25% |
| Building the NBN (National Broadband Network) |
48% |
28% |
22% |
26% |
18% |
15% |
13% |
6% |
43% |
28% |
| Paid parental leave |
48% |
22% |
14% |
34% |
24% |
13% |
9% |
5% |
52% |
20% |
| Spending on new school buildings during the GFC |
47% |
26% |
12% |
35% |
20% |
15% |
11% |
6% |
53% |
22% |
| Implementing the recommendations of the Gonski report to increase education funding |
46% |
22% |
17% |
29% |
23% |
12% |
10% |
9% |
54% |
8% |
| Abolished WorkChoices |
42% |
27% |
23% |
19% |
22% |
17% |
10% |
10% |
42% |
27% |
| Introducing a carbon tax to tackle climate change |
32% |
48% |
14% |
18% |
16% |
18% |
30% |
4% |
28% |
51% |
The two most popular decisions of the Labor Government are ‘expanding dental health services for people on low incomes’ (73% total good) and ‘increasing the tax free threshold from $6,000 to $18,000 (72% total good). The least popular decisions were ‘Implementing the recommendations of the Gonski report (46% total good), ‘Abolished WorkChoices’ (42% total good) and ‘introducing a carbon tax to tackle climate change’ (32% total good).
The only issue which received a net negative response was ‘introducing a carbon tax to tackle climate change’, where 48% of respondents believed it to be bad for Australia.
Since this question was previously asked last September, perceptions of most decisions have become a little more negative – with the exceptions of the “carbon tax” which shifted from 28% to 32% ‘good’, the ‘NDIS’ which shifted from 58% to 63% ‘good’ and building the NBN which shifted from 43% to 48% ‘good’.
The largest negative shifts were for the ‘Gonski recommendations’ (down 8% to 46%), increasing super (down 6% to 62%) and spending on schools during the GFC (down 6% to 47%).
02 October 2012, 021012, ADF, defence reforms, dental health scheme, Education, Gonski, National Disability Insurance Scheme, ndis
Q. The federal government has recently announced a number of major spending initiatives on health, education and defence reforms that will involve substantial investment over the next few years. For each of the reforms as they are described below, please indicate whether you believe it should be implemented or not
|
Implement the reform if it means higher taxes (including corporate and mining taxes) and cuts in other areas |
Do not implement the reform if it means higher taxes (including corporate and mining taxes) or cuts in other areas |
No opinion |
|
| National Disability Insurance Scheme to improve care and support for all people in Australia with a significant and permanent disability |
58% |
22% |
20% |
| New dental health scheme to provide free dental care for low-income patients and children |
53% |
29% |
18% |
| Gonski reforms to education to increase funding for each primary and secondary school student across the country |
48% |
30% |
21% |
| Purchase of new advanced submarines for the Australian Defence Force |
24% |
50% |
26% |
The majority of respondents support implementing the NDIS (58%) and the new dental health scheme (53%) if it means higher taxes (including corporate and mining taxes) and cuts in other areas.
A large portion of respondents (48%) also agree with implementing the Gonski reforms if it means higher taxes and cuts in other areas, whereas 30% would prefer to see these reforms not implemented.
On the purchase of new submarines for the ADF, most respondents felt that this reform should not be implemented if it means higher taxes and cuts in other areas (50%), whilst 24% are in favour of implementing the reform.