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

• 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%).

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

• 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).

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?

• 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%).

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?

• 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.

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?

• 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%).

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

• 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.

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?

• 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

• 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%).

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?

• 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.