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  • Oct, 2011

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    Succession to the British Throne

    Q. Currently a male child takes precedence over a female child in succeeding the British throne, even if he is younger than his older sister. In your opinion, should the laws relating to the Royal Family be changed to allow the first born to become King or Queen regardless of whether they are male or female?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    The law should change so the first born child succeeds the throne regardless of gender 61% 69% 59% 77%
    The law should remain the same so that male heirs have priority 13% 9% 17% 4%
    No opinion 25% 22% 24% 19%

    61% agreed that the law should change so the first born child succeeds the throne and only 13% think the law should remain the same so that male heirs have priority. These results are very similar to a poll conducted in UK in April which showed 60% agreeing with a law change and 18% opposed (Angus Reid Public Opinion).

    A majority of all demographic and voter groups supported a law change.

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Qantas Dispute – Most to Blame

    Q. Qantas and its workers are currently in dispute over pay, conditions and jobs. Who do you think is most to blame for this dispute – Qantas management or the workers?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Qantas management 36% 54% 25% 47%
    Qantas workers 13% 6% 22% 4%
    Both equally 37% 30% 41% 34%
    Don’t know 14% 10% 12% 15%

    36% believe that Qantas management is most to blame for the current dispute and 13% think the workers are most to blame – 37% think both are equally to blame.

    All demographic and voter groups are more likely to think management is to blame than workers.

    54% of Labor voters and 47% of Greens voters think management is most to blame while Liberal/National voters are more likely to think both are equally to blame (41%).

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Qantas Dispute – Opinions

    Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

    Total agree Total disagree Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know
    Moving some operations to Asia is necessary to ensure a strong future for Qantas 21% 61% 6% 15% 31% 30% 17%
    Qantas should keep jobs in Australia 88% 7% 51% 37% 5% 2% 5%
    Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is overpaid 73% 7% 49% 24% 6% 1% 20%
    Qantas employees are overpaid 20% 44% 5% 15% 34% 10% 37%
    Union industrial action at Qantas is irresponsible and disruptive 54% 31% 20% 34% 21% 10% 15%
    Qantas workers have legitimate concerns which management should address 67% 13% 21% 46% 10% 3% 19%

    Respondents most strongly agreed with the statements that “Qantas should keep jobs in Australia” (88% agree) and “Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is overpaid” (73%) – but they are more likely to disagree that “Qantas employees are overpaid” (20% agree/44% disagree).

    While 54% agreed that “Union industrial action at Qantas is irresponsible and disruptive”, 67% agreed that “Qantas workers have legitimate concerns which management should address”.

    61% disagreed that “Moving some operations to Asia is necessary to ensure a strong future for Qantas”.

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Qantas Dispute – Government Intervention

    Q. Do you think the Federal Government should intervene in this dispute or is it up to Qantas and its workers to negotiate an agreement?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Federal Government should intervene 24% 26% 26% 18%
    Qantas and workers should negotiate an agreement 62% 65% 64% 65%
    Don’t know 14% 9% 10% 18%

    Only 24% think that the Federal Government should intervene in the Qantas dispute – 62% think it is up to Qantas and its workers to negotiate an agreement.

    All demographic and voter groups were at least twice as likely to favour negotiation over intervention.

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Qantas Dispute – Damage to Reputation

    Q. Which of the following is likely to cause the most damage to Qantas’ reputation?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Cutting Australian jobs and moving some operations to Asia 62% 71% 56% 66%
    Industrial action by Qantas workers over pay and conditions 27% 20% 36% 22%
    Don’t know 11% 9% 9% 12%

    62% believed that cutting Australian jobs and moving some operations to Asia was more likely to damage Qantas’ reputation than industrial action by Qantas workers. Only 27% thought industrial action would cause most damage.

    Those most likely to think cutting jobs and moving operations offshore would cause most damage were women (69%), aged 55% (66%), Labor voters (71%) and Greens voters (66%). More than half of all demographic and voter groups believed cutting jobs would do most damage.

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Opinion of Government Decisions

    Q. Thinking about some of the major decisions the Federal Government has made over recent years, do you think the following decisions have been good for Australia or bad for Australia?

    Total good Total Bad Very good Good Neither good nor bad Bad Very bad Don’t know
    Introducing the GST 39% 30% 10% 29% 24% 17% 13% 7%
    Privatising Qantas 23% 44% 4% 19% 20% 31% 13% 13%
    Privatising Telstra 20% 53% 4% 16% 16% 32% 21% 10%
    Privatising the Commonwealth Bank 26% 42% 7% 19% 19% 25% 17% 13%
    Floating the dollar 46% 11% 13% 33% 22% 7% 4% 21%
    Free trade agreements 41% 21% 11% 30% 21% 13% 8% 18%
    Compulsory superannuation 79% 7% 42% 37% 10% 4% 3% 5%
    Medibank (now Medicare) 76% 6% 38% 38% 12% 4% 2% 6%

    Only the Government decisions to introduce compulsory superannuation (79%) and Medibank (76%) were considered good for Australia by a majority of respondents – although opinions of floating the dollar (46% good/11% bad), free trade agreements (41%/21%) and the GST (39%/30%) were more likely to be positive than negative.

    The decisions to privatize three major national enterprises were more likely to be considered bad. Although Labor voters were more negative about privatisations, Liberal/National voters were also more likely to describe them bad for Australia – Qantas 47% bad/34% good, Telstra 49%/29% and Commonwealth Bank 38%/36%.

    47% of Labor voters thought the introduction of the GST was bad while 50% of Liberal/National voters thought it was good.

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Reversing Past Government Decisions

    Q. Would you support or oppose the Federal Government taking any of the following decisions

    Total support Total oppose Strongly support Support Oppose Strongly oppose Don’t know
    Abolishing the GST 35% 43% 14% 21% 24% 19% 21%
    Buying back Qantas 43% 34% 13% 30% 23% 11% 22%
    Buying back Telstra 47% 33% 16% 31% 22% 11% 20%
    Buying back the Commonwealth Bank 41% 36% 13% 28% 24% 12% 23%
    Regulating the dollar 32% 36% 10% 22% 22% 14% 32%
    Increasing trade protection 59% 20% 20% 39% 13% 7% 21%
    Making superannuation voluntary 24% 64% 9% 15% 26% 38% 13%
    Privatising Medicare 11% 74% 4% 7% 26% 48% 17%

    When asked whether these decisions should be reversed, 59% supported increasing trade protection and 47% supported buying back Telstra. There was very strong opposition to privatizing Medicare (74%) and making superannuation voluntary (64%). No other issues had clear majority support or opposition.

    Liberal/National voters supported buying back Telstra (47% to 39%), were split on Qantas (43%/41%), but opposed buying back the Commonwealth Bank (39%/44%).

    Although Coalition voters were more likely to think free trade agreements were good for Australia (41%/25%), they were also more likely than Labor voters to support increasing trade protection (64%/19%) – 59% of Labor voters supported more trade protection and 21% opposed.

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  • Oct, 2011

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    Approval of Julia Gillard

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

    19 Jul 20 Dec 17 Jan 2011 14 Feb 14 Mar 11 Apr 9 May 14 June 11 July 15 Aug 12 Sept 17 Oct
    Total approve 52% 43% 51% 48% 41% 37% 41% 34% 29% 35% 28% 34%
    Total disapprove 30% 40% 36% 41% 46% 50% 48% 54% 62% 55% 64% 59%
    Strongly approve 11% 10% 8% 9% 7% 7% 7% 6% 5% 6% 5% 7%
    Approve 41% 33% 43% 39% 34% 30% 34% 28% 24% 29% 23% 27%
    Disapprove 17% 24% 24% 25% 22% 25% 26% 29% 30% 24% 28% 27%
    Strongly disapprove 13% 16% 12% 16% 24% 25% 22% 25% 32% 31% 36% 32%
    Don’t know 18% 17% 14% 11% 13% 13% 11% 13% 9% 11% 8% 7%

    After dropping last month Julia Gillard’s approval rating has improved this month. 34% (up 6%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 59% (down 5%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -36 to -25 over the last 5 weeks.

    74% of Labor voters approve (up 8%) and 21% disapprove (down 5%).

    By gender – men 36% approve/60% disapprove, women 32% approve/58% disapprove.

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