Approval of Julia Gillard
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| Kevin Rudd | Julia Gillard | ||||||||||||
| 31 May
2010 |
5 Jul | 19 Jul | 16 Aug | 20 Sep | 18 Oct | 22 Nov | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | |
| Total approve | 41% | 48% | 52% | 46% | 45% | 45% | 43% | 43% | 51% | 48% | 41% | 37% | 41% |
| Total disapprove | 47% | 27% | 30% | 40% | 37% | 37% | 38% | 40% | 36% | 41% | 46% | 50% | 48% |
| Strongly approve | 7% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 12% | 10% | 7% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 7% |
| Approve | 34% | 34% | 41% | 33% | 33% | 36% | 36% | 33% | 43% | 39% | 34% | 30% | 34% |
| Disapprove | 25% | 13% | 17% | 24% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 26% |
| Strongly disapprove | 22% | 14% | 13% | 16% | 16% | 17% | 15% | 16% | 12% | 16% | 24% | 25% | 22% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 26% | 18% | 13% | 19% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 13% | 11% |
41% (up 4%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 48% (down 2% disapprove – a change in net rating from -13 to -7 over the last 4 weeks.
86% of Labor voters approve (up 8%) and 10% disapprove (down 2%).
By gender – men 38% approve/55% disapprove, women 45% approve/41% disapprove.
Approval of Tony Abbott
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| 18 Jan
2010 |
29 Mar | 5 Jul | 16 Aug | 20 Sep | 18 Oct | 22 Nov | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | |
| Total approve | 37% | 33% | 37% | 41% | 43% | 39% | 40% | 39% | 42% | 38% | 38% | 36% | 42% |
| Total disapprove | 37% | 50% | 47% | 44% | 37% | 45% | 40% | 39% | 37% | 46% | 47% | 48% | 44% |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 12% | 8% | 6% | 9% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| Approve | 32% | 25% | 29% | 32% | 31% | 31% | 34% | 30% | 35% | 30% | 31% | 29% | 34% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 28% | 23% | 22% | 21% | 22% | 22% | 21% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 22% | 24% | 22% | 16% | 23% | 18% | 18% | 15% | 22% | 23% | 23% | 19% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 16% | 16% | 15% | 19% | 17% | 19% | 22% | 20% | 16% | 16% | 17% | 14% |
42% (up 6%) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 44% (down 4%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -12 to -2 over the last 4 weeks.
77% of Coalition voters approve and 13% disapprove.
By gender – men 47% approve/43% disapprove, women 37% approve/45% disapprove.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 20 Sep | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott
21 Jun 10 |
||
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 45% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 42% | 43% | 91% | 7% | 71% | 47% | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 35% | 34% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 35% | 4% | 76% | 2% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 21% | 18% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 22% | 5% | 17% | 27% | 23% |
43% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 35% prefer Tony Abbott – a net decrease for Julia Gillard of 1% on last month’s figures (from +9% to +8%).
Men are split 41%/41% and women favour Julia Gillard 45%/29%.
Interest in Federal Budget
Q. Thinking about the Federal Budget to be announced next week – how interested are you in reading and hearing about the Federal Budget?
| 2010 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Very interested | 30% | 38% | 41% | 44% | 32% |
| Somewhat interested | 37% | 29% | 32% | 29% | 30% |
| A little interested | 22% | 21% | 19% | 20% | 28% |
| Not at all interested | 8% | 8% | 5% | 6% | 9% |
| Can’t say | 4% | 3% | 2% | * | – |
67% of respondents say they are very or somewhat interested in reading and hearing about the Federal Budget – the same as recorded prior to the 2010 budget. However, those who say they are “very interested” has increased from 30% to 38%.
73% of both Labor and Liberal/National voters say they are interested.
Younger people are less interested – 60% of those under 35 are interested compared to 78% of those aged 55+.
The Economy – Heading in the Right/Wrong Direction
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?
| 17 May 10
(Post 2010 budget) |
Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| The right direction | 51% | 45% | 75% | 27% | 51% |
| The wrong direction | 25% | 29% | 7% | 51% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 25% | 17% | 22% | 33% |
45% of respondents think that Australia’s economy is heading in the right direction – 29% think it is heading in the wrong direction. Since this question was asked just after the 2010 budget, “right direction” has dropped 6% and “wrong direction” increased 4%.
75% of Labor voters, 27% of Liberal/National voters and 51% of Greens voters think the economy is heading in the right direction.
Osama bin Laden
Q. Do you think the death of Osama bin Laden will make the world a safer or less safe place or will it make no difference?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| Make the world safer | 12% | 16% | 12% | 8% |
| Make the world less safe | 19% | 17% | 20% | 28% |
| Make no difference | 63% | 60% | 65% | 59% |
| Don’t know | 6% | 7% | 2% | 5% |
The majority (63%) of respondents think that the death of Osama bin Laden will make no difference to making the world safer or less safe. 12% think it will make the world safer and 19% think it will make the world less safe.
28% of Greens voters and 23% of those aged 55+ think it will make the world less safe.
Osama bin Laden
Q. Do you think the death of Osama bin Laden will result in less terrorism or more terrorism or will it make no difference?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Liberal/ National | Vote Greens | |
| Result in more terrorism | 37% | 32% | 40% | 40% |
| Result in less terrorism | 7% | 8% | 7% | 9% |
| Make no difference | 48% | 51% | 48% | 45% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 9% | 5% | 6% |
About half (48%) think that the death of Osama bin Laden will make no difference to terrorism. However, 37% think it will result in more terrorism and only 7% think it will result in less terrorism. Views are broadly similar across demographic groups.
Greens and Liberal/National voters (40%) are a little more likely to think it will result in more terrorism than Labor voters (32%).
Troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
| 25 Oct 10 | 21 Mar 11 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan | 10% | 5% | 6% | 4% | 8% | 1% |
| Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan | 30% | 30% | 36% | 37% | 43% | 25% |
| Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan | 47% | 56% | 48% | 49% | 41% | 65% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 9% | 11% | 10% | 8% | 9% |
42% think that the Australian troops in Afghanistan should be increased or maintained and 48% think Australia should withdraw its troops. This is a significant drop (-8%) in support for withdrawal since this question was last asked in March.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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