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Concern about economic issues
Q. How concerned are you personally about the following economic issues?
Very concerned
Somewhat concerned
Not so concerned
Not at all concerned
Don’t know
Very concerned Oct 2014
Change
Cost of electricity and gas 47%
38%
12%
2%
2%
57%
-10
Housing affordability 39%
35%
18%
6%
2%
40%
-1
Cost of food and groceries 35%
43%
18%
3%
2%
45%
-10
Unemployment 30%
41%
22%
4%
2%
31%
-1
Wealth disparity 30%
35%
23%
7%
6%
33%
-3
Job security 29%
37%
22%
9%
3%
35%
-6
National debt 27%
39%
24%
7%
3%
21%
+6
The current budget deficit 27%
37%
25%
7%
5%
21%
+6
Cost of petrol 24%
40%
26%
7%
2%
49%
-25
Value of the Australian dollar 24%
39%
28%
7%
3%
22%
+2
Tax levels 24%
38%
29%
6%
3%
28%
-4
Interest rates 19%
32%
32%
14%
3%
25%
-6
Economic issues of most concern were cost of electricity/gas (47% very concerned), housing affordability (39%) and cost of food and groceries (35%).
Since October there have been substantial declines in concern about cost of petrol (down 25%), cost of electricity and gas (down 10%) and cost of food and groceries (down 10%).
Women were more concerned than men about cost of food and groceries (42% vs 29% very concerned), cost of electricity/gas (52% vs 41%) and housing affordability (43% vs 34%).
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Budget Surplus, economic issues, inflation, Interest rates, tax levels, unemployment, wealth disparity
Economic issue of most concern
Q. Which of the following economic issues are you personally most concerned about?
Total
Vote Labor
Vote Lib/Nat
Vote Greens
Vote other/
indep-endent
2 Sep 13
19 Nov
Unemployment 25%
28%
23%
22%
18%
23%
24%
Wealth disparity 21%
29%
11%
42%
27%
19%
16%
Inflation 15%
17%
15%
4%
17%
13%
16%
Tax levels 13%
11%
16%
–
19%
15%
13%
Interest rates 12%
10%
17%
8%
13%
9%
16%
Budget surplus 5%
1%
10%
8%
3%
11%
4%
None of them 4%
3%
4%
14%
3%
7%
6%
Don’t know 4%
2%
3%
2%
1%
3%
4%
25% were most concerned about unemployment, 21% about wealth disparity and 15% about inflation. Only 5% were most concerned about a budget surplus.
Since this question was asked in November, concern about wealth disparity has increased from 16% to 21% and concern about interest rates has dropped from 16% to 12%.
Labor voters were most concerned about wealth disparity (29%) and unemployment (28%), while Liberal/National voters were most concerned about unemployment (23%).
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Australian economy, economic issues, economy, Essential Report, federal politics, Government performance, Polling, polls
Government Handling of the Economy
Q. How do you think the Australia Government has handled our economy over the last few years?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Total well 54% 82% 34% 81% Total poorly 39% 13% 62% 12% Very well 9% 22% 2% 16% Quite well 45% 60% 32% 65% Quite poorly 26% 11% 39% 8% Very poorly 13% 2% 23% 4% Don’t know 7% 6% 4% 7% 54% think the Australian Government has handled the economy very well or quite well over the last few years and 39% very poorly or quite poorly. 82% of Labor voters, 81% of Greens voters and 34% of Liberal/National voters think the Government has handled the economy well. 62% of Liberal/National voters think the Government has handled the economy poorly.
60% of those aged under 35 think the Government has handled the economy well, compared to 51% of those aged 35-54 and 51% of those aged 55+
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Australian economy, economic impact, economic issues, Essential Report, GFC, global financial crisis, Polling, polls
Impact of other Economies on Australia
Q. How much impact do you think the economies of other countries have on Australia’s economy?
Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens A lot 47% 44% 49% 46% Some 41% 44% 42% 48% A little 8% 10% 7% 6% None * – – – Don’t know 3% 2% 2% – 47% think that the economies of other countries have a lot of impact on the Australian economy and 41% think they have some impact. Only 8% think they have little or no impact. There were no major differences across demographic groups.
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economic issues, economy, inflation, Interest rates, pension, petrol prices, superannuation, taxation, unemployment
Concern Regarding National Economic Issues
Q. How concerned are you personally about each of the following economic issues facing Australia today?
The issues that most people are very concerned about include food prices and inflation generally (55%), jobs going overseas (49%) and executive salaries (48%). A significant number of people are very concerned about petrol and energy prices (45%) and affordability of housing (41%).
Coalition voters were more likely to be very concerned about food prices and inflation generally (60%), jobs going overseas (57%) and Government debt (54%). Labor voters were more likely to be very concerned about executive wages (54%) and improving wages for low income earners (32%).
Females were more likely than males to be very concerned on most issues, in particular food prices and inflation generally (66% v 45%), improving wages for low income earners (34% v 22%) and unemployment (33% v 25%).
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debt, economic issues, economy, Housing affordability, inflation, Interest rates, Labor, Labor Party, Liberal, Liberal Party, Liberals, pension, superannuation, taxation system
Management of Economic Issues
Q. Between Liberal and Labor, which party do you think would be best at managing each of the following issues?
When it comes to which party is best at handling economic issues, Labor leads the Liberal party on managing the improvement of wages for low income earners (+17%), executive salaries (+9%) and the age pension (+9%).
Labor trails the Liberals in terms of managing government debt (-24%), followed by managing interest rates (-9%) and superannuation (-9%).
Perception of which party is best at managing the economic issues listed followed party lines.
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controlling interest rates, economic issues, economy, EMC, ER, essential report, global financial crisis, Housing affordability, Interest rates, Reserve Bank
Cause of Interest Rate Rises
Q. Which of the following statements most closely reflects your opinion on the cause of the recent increase in official interest rates?
% The Reserve Bank independently sets interest rates to avoid inflation 30% It’s just a correction to the historic low interest rates during the Global Financial Crisis 18% The Federal Government has managed the economy well and the rate increase is a sign of a strong economy 15% The Federal Government has managed the economy badly and so rates are rising 9% The world economy is the biggest factor in interest rates, not the Australian economy 9% House prices are rising and pushing up interest rates 5% Don’t know 15% When it comes to what the public perceive are the causes of the recent increase in official interest rates, 30% think that the Reserve Bank independently sets interest rates to avoid inflation and 18% think that interest rate rises are a correction to the historic low interest rates during the Global Financial Crisis. 15% think that the Federal Government has managed the economy well and the rate increase is a sign of a strong economy.
Only 9% think it is because the Government has managed the economy badly.
Coalition voters were more likely to think that the Reserve Bank independently setting interest rates to avoid inflation is the cause of the recent increase in interest rates (39%). Labor voters were more likely to think the increase in interest rates is because the Federal Government has managed the economy well and the rate increase is a sign of a strong economy (28%). Green voters were more likely to think the recent interest rate rises are just a correction to the historic low interest rates during the Global Financial Crisis (24%).
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economic conditions, economic issues, economy, EMC, ER, essential report, Green, Labor, Liberal
Economic Conditions in Australia
Q. Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same?
Just over half (53%) think that over the next 12 months, economic conditions in Australia will get better, 23% think they will get worse and 21% think they will stay much the same.
The number of people that think economic conditions in Australia will get better over the next 12 months has decreased thirteen percentage points since we last asked this question in October this year, and the number that think economic conditions will get worse has increased eight percentage points. However, the current results are very similar to the August survey results and considerably more positive than results recorded up to June.
Labor voters were more likely to think economic conditions will get better (65%), Coalition voters were more likely to think they will get worse (30%) and Green voters were more likely to think conditions will stay much the same (34%).
People earning $1600 per week or more were more likely to think economic conditions will get better (60%), while people earning $600 – $1000 per week were more likely to think they will get worse (32%).