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  • Nov, 2011

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    Better Prime Minister

    Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?

    5 Jul 2010 14 Mar 14 June 12 Sept 17 Oct 14 Nov Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Julia Gillard 53% 44% 41% 36% 38% 41% 83% 7% 80%
    Tony Abbott 26% 33% 36% 40% 39% 36% 5% 73% 4%
    Don’t know 21% 23% 24% 24% 23% 24% 12% 20% 17%

    41% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 36% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Julia Gillard of 6% on last month’s figures (from -1% to +5%). This is the best result for Julia Gillard since June.

    Men are evenly split 39%/39% and women favour Julia Gillard 42%/33%.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Importance of Relationships with Other Countries

    Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?

    Very important Quite important Not very important Don’t know Very Important 28 Mar Change
    New Zealand 61% 31% 5% 3% 69% -8
    United States 55% 37% 4% 3% 60% -5
    China 48% 44% 5% 3% 48%
    United Kingdom 47% 43% 7% 3% 56% -9
    Japan 32% 53% 11% 4% 39% -7
    Indonesia 27% 49% 19% 5% 31% -4
    India 23% 48% 24% 6% 26% -3
    Germany 18% 44% 32% 6% 23% -5
    South Africa 12% 37% 42% 8% 16% -4

    More than half the respondents think it is very important to have close relationships with the New Zealand (61%) and the United States (55%) and just under half think it is very important to have a close relationship with the China (48%) and the United Kingdom (47%).

    A close relationship with the United States is considered very important by 60% of Liberal/National voters, 58% of Labor voters and 42% of Greens voters.

    Since this question was asked in March, there have been substantial decreases in the rating of the importance of relations with New Zealand (-8%), United Kingdom (-9%) and Japan (-7%). The importance of relations with all other listed countries has also fallen a little – with the exception of China which is unchanged. China is now ranked above United Kingdom in importance.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Change in Relationships with Other Countries

    Q. Would you like to see Australia’s relationship with these countries get closer, stay the same or become less close?

    Get closer Stay the same Become less close Don’t know Get closer

    28 Mar

    Change
    China 35% 48% 9% 8% 32% +3
    New Zealand 33% 57% 3% 8% 37% -4
    Japan 24% 59% 7% 9% 26% -2
    India 23% 50% 16% 12% 19% +4
    Indonesia 23% 48% 20% 10% 21% +2
    Germany 20% 58% 10% 12% 18% +2
    United Kingdom 19% 67% 7% 7% 25% -6
    United States 18% 63% 12% 7% 24% -6
    South Africa 14% 58% 14% 14% 13% +1

    35% think that Australia’s relationship with China should get closer and 33% think our relationship with New Zealand should get closer.

    Labor voters are most likely to favour closer relationships with China (41%) and New Zealand (37%).

    Liberal/National voters are also most likely to favour closer relationships with China (34%) and New Zealand (29%).

    Greens voters are most likely to favour closer relationships with New Zealand (47%), Indonesia (40%) and China (31%).

    Since this question was asked in March, the percentage wanting a closer relationship with the United Kingdom and the United States has declined 6%.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Australia’s Future

    Q. To which region do you think Australia’s future is most closely tied?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Europe 7% 6% 7% 5%
    Asia 74% 81% 76% 82%
    North America 9% 6% 10% 10%
    Don’t know 10% 6% 8% 4%

    74% think Australia’s future is most closely tied to Asia – only 9% think it is tied to North America and 7% Europe.

    Views are similar across major voter groups. However, younger respondents were a little less likely to agree – 68% of those aged under 35 think Australia’s future is most closely tied to Asia compared to 81% of those aged 55+.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Interests Represented by Parties

    Q. Which political party do you think best represents the interests of –

    Labor Liberal Greens Don’t know Net (Labor-

    Liberal

    Net

    May 11

    Families with young children 42% 31% 5% 23% +11 +3
    Students 36% 26% 12% 27% +10 +2
    Working people on average incomes 44% 33% 5% 18% +11 +8
    Working people on low incomes 50% 25% 6% 19% +25 +16
    Working people on high incomes 13% 67% 2% 18% -54 -50
    People on welfare 46% 20% 9% 26% +26 +15
    Pensioners 39% 27% 7% 27% +12 +5
    Small businesses and self-employed 22% 51% 3% 24% -29 -27
    Big business 11% 68% 1% 19% -57 -49
    The next generation of Australians 21% 32% 17% 30% -11 -12
    Indigenous people 28% 17% 19% 36% +11 +2
    Ethnic communities 27% 19% 15% 39% +8 +1
    Rural and regional Australians 22% 35% 12% 31% -13 -16

    The Labor Party is considered the party which best represents the interests of families with young children, students, working people on low and average incomes, people on welfare and pensioners. The Liberal Party is considered substantially better at representing the interests of people on high incomes, big business and small business and self-employed. The Greens’ main strengths are in representing the next generation, indigenous people and ethnic communities.

    Since this question was last asked in May, the Labor Party has considerably improved its position on representing the interests of families with young children, students, people on low incomes and people on welfare. The perception that the Liberal Party best represents the interest of big business has increased.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Benefit from Privatisation

    Q. Thinking about the privatisation of Government-owned organisations (such as Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, power companies, etc) over recent years – who do you think has benefited most from those privatisations?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    The Government 25% 18% 30% 18%
    Private companies 59% 70% 54% 68%
    The general public 6% 6% 8% 1%
    Don’t know 10% 6% 8% 13%

    59% think that private companies have benefited most from the privatisation of Government-owned organisations and 25% think the Government has benefited most. Only 6% think the general public has benefited most. Labor and Greens voters are more likely to think private companies have benefited most while Coalition voters are a little more likely to think Government has benefited most.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Regulation of Privatised Organisations

    Q. Do you think that organisations (such as Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, power companies, etc) that are privatized should be regulated by the Government or should they be treated the same as any other private company?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Should be regulated 56% 72% 46% 63%
    Should be treated the same as any other private company 34% 23% 47% 25%
    Don’t know 10% 5% 6% 12%

    56% think that organisations that are privatized should be regulated by the Government and 34% think they should be treated the same as any other private company. Labor and Greens voters are strongly of the view they should be regulated while Coalition voters are split 46% regulated/47% treated the same. There were no major differences across demographic groups.

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  • Nov, 2011

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    Federal politics – 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 = 1,906 respondents

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 45% 45% 44% 43%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6% 48% 48% 47% 46%
    Labor 38.0% 33% 32% 34% 35%
    Greens 11.8% 10% 11% 10% 9%
    Other/Independent 6.6% 9% 8% 9% 9%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 55% 55% 55% 54%
    Labor 50.1% 45% 45% 45% 46%

    NB.  The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from 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.

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