Q. Thinking about your personal financial situation, do you agree or disagree with the statement “The economy may be doing well but I am not any better off”?
| Total agree | 69% |
| Total disagree | 22% |
| Strongly agree | 24% |
| Agree | 45% |
| Disagree | 20% |
| Strongly disagree | 2% |
| Don’t know | 8% |
69% agreed with the statement “the economy may be doing well but I am not any better off” and 22% disagreed.
Those most likely to agree were part-time workers (79%), aged 45+ (76%) and those earning less than $600 pw (77%). There were no substantial differences by voting intention. Comments »
average, best party, climate change, economy, Election, environment, future, Greens, immigration, Labor, Liberal, relations
Q. Which of the following parties – Labor, Liberal or Greens – do you think is the best party when it comes to –
| Labor | Liberal | Greens | Don’t know | |
| Representing the interests of Australian working people | 42% | 27% | 6% | 25% |
| Standing up to the big multinational corporations | 32% | 27% | 13% | 28% |
| Handling the economy in a way that best protects working people in Australia | 36% | 35% | 4% | 25% |
| Understanding the needs of the average Australian | 29% | 27% | 9% | 35% |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you | 32% | 34% | 10% | 24% |
| Having a vision for Australia’s future | 29% | 33% | 9% | 29% |
| Taking Australia forward, not backwards | 29% | 34% | 9% | 28% |
| Handling Australia’s relations with other countries | 30% | 38% | 4% | 27% |
| Handling Australia’s economy | 30% | 42% | 3% | 25% |
| Dealing with the issue of immigration | 20% | 41% | 7% | 32% |
| Being honest and ethical | 19% | 21% | 15% | 45% |
| Handling environmental and climate change issues | 19% | 19% | 36% | 27% |
The Labor Party was thought to be better than the Liberal Party at “representing the interests of Australian working people” (42% to 27%) and “standing up to the big multinational corporations “ (32%/27%).
The Liberal Party was thought to be better than the Labor Party at “dealing with the issue of immigration “ (41% to 20%), “handling Australia’s economy” (42%/30%), “handling Australia’s relations with other countries” (38%/30%), “taking Australia forward, not backwards” (34%/29%) and “having a vision for Australia’s future” (33%/29%).
There was little difference between the Liberal and Labor Parties in terms of “handling the economy in a way that best protects working people in Australia”, “understanding the needs of the average Australian” and “representing the interests of you and people like you”.
36% believed the Greens were best at “handling environmental and climate change issues” and 45% could not nominate a party best at “being honest and ethical”. Comments »
Q. Thinking about the Federal Budget – how much attention did you pay to this week’s Federal Budget?
| Last year | This year | |
| Total a lot/some | 66% | 53% |
| Total a little/none | 31% | 44% |
| A lot | 29% | 18% |
| Some | 37% | 35% |
| A little | 25% | 29% |
| None | 6% | 15% |
| Can’t say | 3% | 3% |
Just over half (53%) of respondents said they paid a lot or some attention to the Federal Budget. This is significantly lower than the corresponding figure of 66% for last year’s budget.
Those most interested were men (60% a lot/some) and people aged 55+ (65%). Only 44% of respondents aged 18-34 paid a lot or some attention to the budget. Comments »
budget, economy, Labor, Prime Minister, rudd
Q. Do you think that with this Budget, the Government has done enough to reduce the deficit and return the budget to surplus in the next few years?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | |
| Has done enough | 31% | 59% | 12% |
| Hasn’t done enough | 39% | 16% | 69% |
| Don’t know | 31% | 26% | 20% |
31% think that the Government has done enough to reduce the deficit and 39% think they have not done enough. Responses mostly followed party preferences – 59% of Labor voters think they have done enough and 69% of Coalition voters think they have not done enough. Greens voters split 40% enough/31% not enough. Comments »
Q. Overall, from what you have read and heard, do you think the Australian economy is heading in the right direction or the wrong direction?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | |
| The right direction | 51% | 83% | 30% |
| The wrong direction | 25% | 6% | 47% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 12% | 23% |
Half (51%) the respondents think that Australia’s economy is heading in the right direction – 25% think it is heading in the wrong direction.
83% of Labor voters, 30% of Liberal/National voters and 59% of Greens voters think the economy is heading in the right direction. Comments »
Q. Which party do you think would be best at handling the Australian economy in the interests of you and people like you?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | |
| Labor Party | 33% | 81% | 2% |
| Liberal Party | 36% | 2% | 86% |
| No difference | 20% | 13% | 9% |
| Don’t know | 17% | 4% | 3% |
Respondents were split over party best to handle the economy (in the interests of you and people like you) – 33% nominated the Labor Party and 36% the Liberal Party. Opinion closely follows party preferences. 81% of Labor voters nominated Labor and 86% of Coalition voters nominated the Liberal party. 43% of Greens voters said there was no difference – 34% said Labor and 10% Liberal.
Respondents aged under 35 favoured Labor 31%/28% and those aged 55+ favoured the Liberals 44%/36%. Comments »
economy, resources super profits tax, RSPT, superannuation, tax
Q4. The Federal Government recently announced changes to our tax system as a result of the Henry Report, which was a review of Australia’s taxation. Do you approve or disapprove of the following Government proposals?
| Total approve | Total disapprove | Strongly approve | Approve | Disapprove | Strongly disapprove | Don’t know | |
| Higher taxes on the profits of large mining companies | 52% | 34% | 14% | 38% | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Increasing superannuation contributions from 9% to 12% | 74% | 17% | 25% | 49% | 12% | 5% | 10% |
| Cutting company tax rates | 54% | 29% | 10% | 44% | 23% | 6% | 18% |
| Increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol | 63% | 31% | 33% | 30% | 15% | 16% | 6% |
There was majority approval of all recent changes to Australia’s taxation.
The most popular proposal was to increase superannuation contributions from 9% to 12% – 74% approved and 17% disapproved.
63% approved increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.
More than half approved cutting company tax rates (54%) and higher taxes on the profits of large mining companies (52%).
78% of Labor voters approved higher taxes on mining company profits (11% disapprove) and 56% of Liberal/National voters disapproved (35% approve).
Increasing superannuation contributions received high support from both Labor (85%) and Liberal/National voters (72%). 61% of both Labor and Liberal/National voters supported cutting company tax rates. 63% of Labor voters and 69% of Liberal/National voters approved increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. Comments »