corporate interests, Essential Report, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, workers interests
Q. Do you think the Federal Liberal/National opposition parties favour the interests of businesses or workers?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total favour businesses | 61% | 79% | 50% | 73% |
| Total favour workers | 8% | 5% | 12% | 5% |
| Favour businesses a lot more than workers | 36% | 63% | 14% | 57% |
| Favour businesses a little more than workers | 25% | 16% | 36% | 16% |
| Favour workers a little more than businesses | 7% | 4% | 11% | 4% |
| Favour workers a lot more than businesses | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Balance the interests of businesses and workers | 14% | 3% | 27% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 17% | 12% | 10% | 19% |
61% think that the Federal Opposition favours the interests of businesses, 8% think they favour the interests of workers and 14% think they balance their interests.
Labor voters think they favour businesses over workers by 79% to 5% and Greens voters are also much more likely to think they favour the interests of businesses (73%) over workers (5%).
Liberal /National voters are more likely to think they balance their interests (27%) – although 50% think they favour businesses’ interests and only 12% think they favour workers.
Men are more likely to think they favour the interests of businesses over workers by 66% to 9% compared to women 55% to 8%.
Essential Report, occupy, Polling, protests
Q. There have recently been protests held in some Australian cities – similar to the “Occupy Wall Street” protests in USA – against “corporate greed” and the power of major banks and multinational corporations. Which best describes your opinion of these protests?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Agree with their concerns and support the protests | 29% | 36% | 18% | 59% |
| Agree with their concerns but don’t support the protests | 40% | 37% | 48% | 27% |
| Don’t agree with their concerns | 13% | 10% | 19% | 5% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 18% | 15% | 8% |
69% say they agree with the concerns of the “occupy” protests – made up of 29% who support the protests and 40% who don’t support the protests. Only 13% say they don’t agree with their concerns.
A majority (59%) of Greens voters support the protests compared to only 18% of Liberal/National voters – although only 19% of Liberal/National voters disagree with their concerns. Labor voters are split over support for the protests – 36% support them and 37% agree with their concerns but don’t support the protests.
Support for the concerns of the protests is strongest among older respondents (aged 55+), 28% support the protests and a further 48% agree with their concerns.
Essential Report, occupy, Polling, protests
Q. Do you support the removal of protesters by police in Melbourne and Sydney or should they be allowed to continue their protests?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Support their removal | 42% | 34% | 57% | 16% |
| Should be allowed to continue | 41% | 51% | 26% | 76% |
| Don’t know | 17% | 15% | 17% | 8% |
Although only 29% support the protests, respondents were divided over the removal of the protesters in Melbourne and Sydney. 42% support their removal and 41% think they should have been allowed to continue.
While 57% of Liberal/National voters supported the removal, 51% of Labor voters and 76% of Greens voters think they should have been allowed to continue.
Younger respondents (aged 18-34) were more likely to think they should be allowed to continue (45% to 35%), and those aged 55+ favoured removal 51% to 37%.
48% of those on incomes under $1,000 pw think they should be allowed to continue while 47% of those on incomes over $1,000 pw support their removal.
coal seam gas mining, Essential Report, Polling
Q. There is currently debate over the exploration and extraction of coal seam gas from farming land, particularly in NSW and Queensland. Do you think Governments should restrict mining of coal seam gas on farming land or do the current regulations balance the interests of farmers and mining companies?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Should restrict coal seam gas mining | 50% | 52% | 48% | 74% |
| Current regulations balance interests of farmers and mining companies | 20% | 21% | 23% | 6% |
| Don’t know | 30% | 26% | 29% | 20% |
50% think coal seam gas mining should be restricted and 20% think current regulations balance interests of farmers and mining companies. 30% have no opinion.
Labor voters and Liberal/National voters hold similar views but 74% of Greens voters want restrictions.
Those most in favour of restrictions were aged 55+ (61%) and respondents from Queensland (56%) and NSW (54%).
Casinos, Essential Report, Gambling, Gambling Regulation, horse racing, Online gambling, poker machines, Polling
Q. For each of the following forms of gambling, which do you think need more or less regulation?
| Needs more regulation | Needs less regulation | Current regulation is about right | Don’t know | Needs more regulation 27 Apr 11 | ||
| Online gambling in general | 67% | 4% | 17% | 12% | 68% | |
| Poker machines | 52% | 5% | 35% | 8% | 62% | |
| Casinos | 47% | 4% | 40% | 9% | 53% | |
| Betting on sport e.g. football, cricket | 52% | 4% | 34% | 10% | 46% | |
| Betting on horse racing | 35% | 5% | 51% | 9% | 37% | |
| Lotto | 15% | 6% | 70% | 9% | 20% |
More than half the respondents think there needs to be more regulation of online gambling (67%), poker machines (52%) and betting on sport (52%).
Support for more regulation of poker machines has dropped 10% since this question was last asked in April.
By vote, 67% of Greens voters, 61% of Labor voters and 43% of Liberal/National voters support more regulation of poker machines. 44% of Liberal/National voters think current regulation is about right, compared to 28% of Labor voters and 25% of Greens voters. There are no substantial differences by age, gender or income.
Essential Report, horse racing, Polling
Q. How would you describe your level of interest in horse racing?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| High interest | 6% | 8% | 6% | 2% |
| Moderate interest | 16% | 18% | 17% | 14% |
| Low interest | 33% | 34% | 34% | 40% |
| No interest | 44% | 41% | 42% | 44% |
| Don’t know | 1% | * | * | * |
6% say they have a high interest in horse racing and 16% have a moderate interest. 77% say they have low or no interest.
Those with most interest are men (26% high/moderate), full-time workers (27%) and those earning $1,000-1,600 pw (29%). There were no significant differences by age group.
Essential Report, Gambling, melbourne cup, Polling
Q. Will you be placing a bet on the Melbourne Cup?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Yes | 40% | 42% | 43% | 42% |
| No | 44% | 44% | 41% | 42% |
| Don’t know | 16% | 14% | 16% | 16% |
Although only 22% have a high or moderate interest in horse racing, 40% say they will be placing a bet on the Melbourne Cup.
Those most likely to place a bet were aged 35-54 (45%) and full-time workers (49%). Men and women were equally likely to place a bet.
2PP, Essential Report, Federal Government, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, 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 = 1,888 respondents
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 46% | 45% | 45% | 45% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 49% | 48% | 48% | 48% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 32% | 33% | 33% | 32% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 12% | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 56% | 55% | 55% | 55% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 44% | 45% | 45% | 45% |
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.