Australian economy, budget, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Federal Budget, Interest in Federal Budget, Polling, polls, the economy
Q. Thinking about the Federal Budget – how much attention did you pay to the Federal Budget?
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Total a lot/some | 66% | 53% | 52% |
| Total a little/none | 31% | 44% | 45% |
| A lot | 29% | 18% | 19% |
| Some | 37% | 35% | 33% |
| A little | 25% | 29% | 31% |
| None | 6% | 15% | 14% |
| Can’t say | 3% | 3% | 2% |
Just over half (52%) of respondents said they paid a lot or some attention to the Federal Budget. This is much the same as the corresponding figure of 53% for last year’s budget.
Those most interested were Liberal/National voters (64%) and people aged 55+ (63%). Only 42% of respondents aged 18-34 paid a lot or some attention to the budget.
Australian economy, budget, Budget day, Businesses, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Federal Budget, Impact of Budget, Polling, polls, the economy
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget was good or bad for you personally?
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget was good or bad for Australian businesses?
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget was good or bad for the Australian economy overall?
| You personally | Businesses | The economy overall | ||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2010 | 2011 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Total good | 22% | 11% | 27% | 20% | 36% | 27% |
| Total bad | 26% | 29% | 32% | 25% | 28% | 29% |
| Very good | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 6% | 4% |
| Good | 19% | 9% | 24% | 17% | 30% | 23% |
| Neither good nor bad | 33% | 44% | 9% | 31% | 10% | 25% |
| Bad | 18% | 21% | 22% | 19% | 18% | 21% |
| Very bad | 8% | 8% | 10% | 6% | 10% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 20% | 16% | 31% | 23% | 26% | 20% |
Overall there was a less positive response to the 2011 budget than to the 2010 budget. The main differences were that respondents were less likely to rate the budget good and more likely to think it was neither good nor bad. The proportions who thought it was bad were similar to last year.
44% of respondents thought the Federal budget was nether good nor bad for them personally – 11% said it was good and 29% bad. The only substantial differences by demographics were that 51% of respondents aged 55+ thought it was nether good nor bad.
25% thought the budget was bad for business, 20% good and 31% said it was neither. 35% of Labor voters said it was good for business and 45% of Liberal/National voters said it was bad.
Respondents were split over whether it was good or bad for the economy overall – 27% said it was good and 29% bad. Labor voters split 50% good/9% bad compared to Liberal/National voters at 12% good/51% bad.
Australian economy, economy, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, management of the economy, Nationals, Polling, polls, the economy
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?
| Post budget 2010 | Pre budget 2011 | Post budget 2011 | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| The right direction | 51% | 45% | 46% | 74% | 30% | 46% |
| The wrong direction | 25% | 29% | 29% | 9% | 49% | 24% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 25% | 25% | 17% | 21% | 30% |
Nearly half (46%) the respondents think that Australia’s economy is heading in the right direction – 29% think it is heading in the wrong direction.
This was a little less positive than the post 2010 budget poll, but unchanged from the poll taken before the 2011 budget – which suggests that the budget has had no impact on overall perceptions of the economy.
74% of Labor voters, 30% of Liberal/National voters and 46% of Greens voters think the economy is heading in the right direction.
Australian economy, economy, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, management of the economy, Nationals, Polling, polls, the economy
Q. Which party do you think would be best at handling the Australian economy in the interests of you and people like you?
| Post budget 2010 | Post budget 2011 | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| Labor Party | 33% | 30% | 75% | 3% | 36% |
| Liberal Party | 36% | 40% | 4% | 84% | 11% |
| No difference | 20% | 22% | 17% | 10% | 46% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 9% | 4% | 3% | 7% |
30% think Labor the party best to handle the economy (in the interests of you and people like you) and 40% nominated the Liberal Party. This represents a shift of 7% in favour of the Liberal Party since the 2010 budget.
75% of Labor voters nominated Labor and 84% of Coalition voters nominated the Liberal Party. 46% of Greens voters said there was no difference – 36% said Labor and 11% Liberal.
Those with incomes under $600 pw favour Labor 32% to 30% while those on $1,600+ pw favour the Liberals 49% to 29%.
asylum seekers, boat people, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Malaysia, Nationals, PNG, Polling, polls, Processing Asylum Seekers
Q. The Government has announced two possible agreements with Malaysia and Papua New Guinea on asylum seekers. Under these agreements, asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia will be sent to either Malaysia or PNG for processing, and in return Australia will take a fixed number of refugees from Malaysia.
Do you support or oppose the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to PNG and Malaysia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 40% | 55% | 40% | 29% |
| Total oppose | 40% | 25% | 49% | 53% |
| Strongly support | 11% | 16% | 12% | 5% |
| Support | 29% | 39% | 28% | 24% |
| Oppose | 20% | 16% | 19% | 33% |
| Strongly oppose | 20% | 9% | 30% | 20% |
| Don’t know | 19% | 20% | 12% | 17% |
Respondents were divided over the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to PNG and Malaysia – 40% support and 40% oppose. Labor voters were more likely to support the plan (55%) while Greens voters were most likely to oppose it (53%).
There were no substantial differences by demographic groups.
asylum seekers, boat people, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Malaysia, Nationals, PNG, Polling, polls, Processing Asylum Seekers
Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to PNG and Malaysia if it means it will cost taxpayers substantially more than it would if we just processed asylum seekers on the mainland in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 24% | 35% | 23% | 15% |
| Total oppose | 60% | 49% | 66% | 69% |
| Strongly support | 6% | 8% | 6% | 3% |
| Support | 18% | 27% | 17% | 12% |
| Oppose | 29% | 31% | 25% | 35% |
| Strongly oppose | 31% | 18% | 41% | 34% |
| Don’t know | 16% | 16% | 11% | 16% |
Respondents were more likely to oppose the plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to PNG and Malaysia if it means it will cost taxpayers substantially more than it would if we just processed asylum seekers on the mainland in Australia – 24% support and 60% oppose.
Labor voters showed the largest shift in opinion if increased cost to taxpayers was taken into account – their opposition increased from 25% to 49%.
budget, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Federal Budget, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Network 10, Network Ten, Polling, polls
Q. Overall, do you expect the Federal Budget to be good or bad for you personally?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Age
18-34 |
Aged
35-54 |
Aged 55+ | |
| Total good | 12% | 21% | 9% | 7% | 10% | 14% | 22% | 8% | 5% |
| Total bad | 35% | 18% | 50% | 33% | 40% | 30% | 21% | 40% | 43% |
| Very good | 2% | 2% | 2% | – | 1% | 2% | 3% | 1% | * |
| Good | 10% | 19% | 7% | 7% | 9% | 12% | 19% | 7% | 5% |
| Neither good nor bad | 44% | 54% | 36% | 53% | 43% | 44% | 45% | 42% | 46% |
| Bad | 27% | 16% | 37% | 25% | 30% | 23% | 17% | 30% | 32% |
| Very bad | 8% | 2% | 13% | 8% | 10% | 7% | 4% | 10% | 11% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 6% |
35% expect the Federal Budget will be bad for them personally and 12% expect it will be good – 44% think it will be neither.
Labor voters are split – 21% good/18% bad while 50% of Liberal/National voters expect it will be bad and only 9% expect it will be good.
Younger voters are more optimistic than older voters – those aged under 35 are split 22% good/21% bad while 43% of over 55’s expect it will be bad and only 5% good. By income, the only major difference from the average is that 45% of people on incomes under $600 pw expect it will be bad for them.
2PP, Election, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, two party preferred, voting, Voting intention
Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?
Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?
sample size =1,856
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 43% | 43% | 44% | 44% | |
| National | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6 | 46% | 47% | 47% | 47% |
| Labor | 38.0 | 35% | 35% | 35% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8 | 11% | 10% | 9% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6 | 8% | 8% | 9% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 53% | 54% | 54% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 47% | 46% | 46% | 46% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived the first preference/leaning to voting questions. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results. The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2010 election.