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  • May, 2021

    Priority for the upcoming budget

    Q. Which one of the following options is closest to your thinking about what the priority should be of the upcoming budget?

      Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
    Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
    The government should prioritise the reduction of national debt by cutting public funding for services 20% 24% 16% 27% 21% 13% 15% 22% 25% 33%
    The government should prioritise providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic 80% 76% 84% 73% 79% 87% 85% 78% 75% 67%
    Base (n) 1,092 536 556 340 372 380 371 400 109 111
    • The majority of Australians think the government should prioritise providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic in the upcoming budget (80%), over the reduction of national debt by cutting public funding for services (20%).
    • Preference for providing support for people and industries struggling because of the pandemic is highest among women (84%), those over 55 (87%) and Labor voters (85%).
  • Dec, 2020

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    Awareness of the proportion of the Federal Budget spent on foreign aid

    Q. As far as you know, about how much of the Federal Budget is spent on foreign aid?

      Nov’20 Jun’17 Jun’15 Jul’11
     
    Less than 1% 6% 10% 13% 7%
    About 1% 8% 9% 11% 8%
    About 2% 13% 15% 14% 17%
    About 5% 16% 10% 10% 11%
    More than 5% 17% 12% 9% 16%
    Don’t know 39% 44% 43% 41%

     

      Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
    Less than 1% 6% 9% 4% 5% 6% 7% 7% 5% 11% 7%
    About 1% 8% 11% 4% 11% 7% 6% 7% 8% 17% 6%
    About 2% 13% 17% 10% 17% 11% 13% 15% 16% 13% 11%
    About 5% 16% 19% 13% 23% 15% 12% 15% 18% 14% 21%
    More than 5% 17% 15% 19% 13% 23% 15% 15% 18% 9% 29%
    Don’t know 39% 29% 49% 31% 38% 47% 41% 35% 36% 25%
    Base (n) 1,034 528 506 329 320 385 322 430 88 107
    • Only 6% of Australians correctly know that less than 1% of the Federal Budget is spent on foreign aid. Fewer people know the correct proportion than in previous years (10% in 2017 and 13% in 2015)
    • 17% think over 5% is spent. This is higher than previous years when this question was asked (12% in 2017 and 9% in 2015).
  • Oct, 2020

    Federal Budget expectations

    Q. The Federal Budget was announced on Tuesday 6th October.

    In general, do you think the Federal Budget will be good or bad for the following?

      Before budget announced

    05/10/2020

    		   After budget announced

    19/10/2020
      NET: Very Good / Good NET: Very bad / Bad   NET: Very Good / Good NET: Very bad / Bad
    People who are well off 51% 10%   56% 7%
    The economy overall 34% 32%   41% 19%
    Average working people 30% 34%   40% 21%
    Australian families 33% 29%   41% 18%
    People on lower incomes 30% 40%   35% 31%
    Older Australians 31% 34%   29% 31%
    Younger Australians 29% 33%   42% 20%
    You personally 25% 31%   27% 24%
    Small business 44% 23%   45% 17%
    Big business 53% 12%   55% 6%
    • Following the budget, more people than before thought the announcements would be good for the economy overall (41%, up from 34% before the budget), average working Australians (40% from 30% expectation), and young people (42% from 29%).
  • Oct, 2020

    Federal Budget: Balance of interests between different groups

    Q. To the best of your knowledge, did the Federal Budget put the interests of each of the groups ahead of the other, or was there a balance?

    Men and women Total
    This budget puts the interests of men ahead of the interests of women 31%
    This budget puts the interests of women ahead of the interests of men 14%
    This budget was balanced between women and men 54%
    Base (n) 1,082

     

    Young people and older people Total
    This budget puts the interests of young people ahead of the interests of older people 45%
    This budget puts the interests of older people ahead of the interests of young people 21%
    This budget was balanced between the young and the old 34%
    Base (n) 1,082

     

    Employees and businesses Total
    This budget puts the interests of employees ahead of the interests of businesses 14%
    This budget puts the interests of businesses ahead of the interests of employees 42%
    This budget was balanced between businesses and employees 45%
    Base (n) 1,082
    • While the majority thought the budget was balanced between the interests of men and women (54%), over twice as many people thought the interests of men were put ahead of women, than women above men (31% to 14%).
    • Most felt the interests of younger Australians were put ahead of older Australians (45%). 34% thought it was balanced and 21% thought the interests of older Australians were prioritised.
    • Most felt the budget was balanced between the interests of businesses and employees (45%), with 42% thinking that business interests were prioritised, and 14% thinking employee interests were prioritised.
  • Oct, 2020

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    Federal Budget and post Covid-19 economic recovery

    Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the recent Federal Budget and the direction for the country to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic?

      TOTAL:

    Agree

    		 TOTAL:

    Disagree

    		 Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree, nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Unsure
    The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy 75% 5% 43% 33% 13% 3% 2% 7%
    The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not 70% 5% 36% 34% 17% 4% 2% 8%
    There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services 51% 10% 20% 31% 29% 8% 2% 11%
    The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control 49% 21% 18% 32% 22% 15% 6% 7%
    • There is strong agreement that the Government is responsible for the future of the economy. 75% agree that ‘The decisions the government makes now will affect the future health of the economy’ and 70% of people agree that ‘The government should take the recognition if their budget measures work, just as they should take responsibility if they do not’
    • However, half of people (49%) agree with the statement that ‘The global pandemic means that the health of the economy is out of the government’s control’. Coalition voters are more likely to agree with this statement than Labor voters (58% to 48%).
    • Half of people agree that ‘There were better approaches to the budget like investing in jobs and services’ (51%). Those more likely to agree with this statement include Labor voters (60%), those in paid employment (56%) and men (56%).
  • Oct, 2020

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    Federal budget engagement

    Q. How much attention will you pay to the Federal Budget announcements?     

      Total Gender Age Group
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
    No attention at all 6% 5% 7% 8% 6% 4%
    Not much attention 18% 18% 18% 32% 15% 10%
    A little attention 42% 38% 45% 43% 45% 38%
    A lot of attention 34% 39% 29% 17% 34% 48%
    Base (n) 1,066 531 535 340 341 385
    • Most people will be following the budget announcement on Tuesday with 34% saying they will pay a lot of attention, and 42% paying a little attention.
    • Men (39% paying a lot of attention) and older people (48%) will be most likely to closely follow the announcements.
  • Oct, 2020

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    Federal budget expectations

    Q. The Federal Budget will be announced on Tuesday 6th October.

    In general, do you expect the Federal Budget will be good or bad for the following?

      Oct’20 Mar’19
      NET: Very Good / Good Neither good, nor bad NET: Very bad / Bad Don’t know NET: Very Good / Good Neither good, nor bad NET: Very bad / Bad Don’t know
    Big business 53% 26% 12% 9% – – – –
    People who are well off 51% 30% 10% 8% 58% 23% 9% 10%
    Small business 44% 26% 23% 7% – – – –
    The economy overall 34% 27% 32% 7% 35% 33% 24% 9%
    Australian families 33% 31% 29% 7% 27% 32% 33% 9%
    Older Australians 31% 28% 34% 7% 25% 28% 38% 9%
    Average working people 30% 29% 34% 6% 31% 30% 30% 9%
    People on lower incomes 30% 23% 40% 6% 26% 32% 31% 10%
    Younger Australians 29% 31% 33% 8% 24% 25% 42% 10%
    You personally 25% 36% 31% 8% 19% 37% 34% 9%
    • Budget expectations are in line with March 2019, showing people are not expecting drastically different announcements this week.
    • Over half of people think big business (53%), and those who are well-off (51%) to benefit from the budget, while the losers are expected to be those on a lower income (40% expect these to have a bad/very bad budget), older Australians (34%) and younger Australians (33%).
    • More people expect the budget announcement to be bad for them than good. A quarter of people think the budget will benefit them personally (25% think the budget will be good/very good), which is less than those expecting it to be bad/very bad for them (31%).

    By voting preference

    NET:

    Very good / Good

    		 Total Vote Labor Vote Liberal / National Vote Greens NET: Vote Other
    Big business 53% 62% 47% 68% 58%
    People who are well off 51% 62% 41% 67% 56%
    Small business 44% 41% 55% 36% 33%
    The economy overall 34% 31% 43% 31% 26%
    Australian families 33% 30% 43% 28% 23%
    Older Australians 31% 27% 39% 34% 23%
    Average working people 30% 25% 43% 19% 23%
    People on lower incomes 30% 27% 40% 24% 17%
    Younger Australians 29% 25% 37% 24% 27%
    You personally 25% 22% 32% 27% 18%
    • Labor and Greens voters are more likely than Coalition voters to expect a favourable budget for Big businesses (62% and 68% of Labor and Greens voters respectively, to 47% of Coalition) and for those well-off (62% and 67% to 41%.
    • For all other groups, Coalition voters are more likely to expect a good budget than Labor or Greens.
    • 32% of Coalition voters think they will have a good budget. This was higher than Labor (22%), Greens (27%) or those voting for another independent/minor party (18%).
  • Oct, 2020

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    Economy: Revert to old ways vs opportunity for change

    Q. Which of the following options is closest to your view on the best way for Australia to recover economically following the Covid-19 pandemic?

      Total Gender Age Group
      Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
    Now is not the time to experiment with new ideas, we should return to the way the economy was being run 22% 23% 22% 30% 23% 15%
    The pandemic has exposed flaws in the economy and there is an opportunity to explore new ways to run the economy 78% 77% 78% 70% 77% 85%
    Base (n) 1,066 531 535 340 341 385

     

      Total Federal Voting Intention
      Labor Liberal + National Greens TOTAL: Other
    Now is not the time to experiment with new ideas, we should return to the way the economy was being run 22% 21% 24% 23% 22%
    The pandemic has exposed flaws in the economy and there is an opportunity to explore new ways to run the economy 78% 79% 76% 77% 78%
    Base (n) 1,066 332 433 91 111
    • Over three-quarters of people believe that the pandemic has exposed flaws in the economy and there is an opportunity to explore new ways to run the economy (78%) with the remaining 22% thinking that now is not the time to experiment with new ideas, we should return to the way the economy was being run.
    • Preference for exploring new ideas was selected by the majority within gender (77% of men, 78% of women), ages (70% of 18-34 year olds, 77% of 35-54 year olds and 85% of those aged over 55), and voting intention.
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