Statements about the budget (by voting intention)
Q. Please indicate whether – in general – you agree with the following statements about the Federal budget that was handed down on Tuesday 13 May.
|
Vote Labor |
|
Vote Lib/Nat |
|
Vote Green |
||||
|
Total Agree |
Total Disagree |
Total Agree |
Total Disagree |
Total Agree |
Total Disagree |
|||
| Overall, the budget was fair and balanced |
5% |
79% |
60% |
13% |
11% |
71% |
||
| The cuts in the budget were necessary to ensure Australia’s future prosperity |
15% |
58% |
80% |
6% |
20% |
52% |
||
| This was the budget Australia needed |
7% |
73% |
73% |
9% |
16% |
69% |
||
| This budget only cares about the bottom line and not people |
82% |
5% |
29% |
42% |
74% |
11% |
||
| This budget hurts the most vulnerable in Australia |
86% |
6% |
32% |
35% |
72% |
10% |
||
| This budget does not look after the needs of business |
23% |
31% |
15% |
31% |
14% |
31% |
||
| I would have preferred for this budget to focus on improving services to Australians rather than curtailing the deficit |
71% |
6% |
27% |
42% |
65% |
8% |
||
As the table indicated, Lib/Nat voters were more likely to agree with the positive statements about the budget, while Labor and Green voters were more likely to agree with the negative.
Budget Emergency
Q. Some people say that there is a “budget emergency” in Australia.
Which of the following is closest to your view?
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
| I agree that there is a ‘budget emergency’ in Australia, and I believe that the recently announced budget changes will help bring the budget back into line. |
32% |
10% |
68% |
16% |
15% |
|
| I agree that there is a ‘budget emergency’ in Australia, but I don’t think the recently announced budget changes will help bring the budget back into line. |
24% |
29% |
14% |
25% |
37% |
|
| I do not believe we have a budget emergency in Australia |
32% |
51% |
12% |
50% |
36% |
|
| Don’t know |
11% |
11% |
6% |
9% |
12% |
Overall, 56% of Australians agree that there is a budget emergency.
32% agree that there is a budget emergency and that the recent budget will help bring the budget back into line. A further 24% agree that there is a budget emergency, but that the recent budget will not bring the budget back into line.
32% do not believe there is a budget emergency.
Labor (51%) and Greens (50%) voters were more likely to think that we do not have a budget emergency in Australia.
Impact of Budget
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget was good or bad for you personally?
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget was good or bad for average working people?
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget was good or bad for Australian businesses?
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget was good or bad for the Australian economy overall?
|
You |
Working people |
Australian |
Economy |
|||||||||||
|
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
12 |
13 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
|
| Total good |
22% |
11% |
17% |
13% |
31% |
17% |
27% |
20% |
10% |
15% |
36% |
27% |
26% |
26% |
| Total bad |
26% |
29% |
26% |
36% |
24% |
40% |
32% |
25% |
43% |
33% |
28% |
29% |
32% |
34% |
| Very good |
3% |
2% |
2% |
2% |
4% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
1% |
2% |
6% |
4% |
4% |
5% |
| Good |
19% |
9% |
15% |
11% |
27% |
15% |
24% |
17% |
9% |
13% |
30% |
23% |
22% |
21% |
| Neither good nor bad |
33% |
44% |
44% |
38% |
33% |
30% |
9% |
31% |
29% |
32% |
10% |
25% |
25% |
24% |
| Bad |
18% |
21% |
17% |
22% |
19% |
27% |
22% |
19% |
28% |
20% |
18% |
21% |
21% |
21% |
| Very bad |
8% |
8% |
9% |
14% |
5% |
13% |
10% |
6% |
15% |
13% |
10% |
8% |
11% |
13% |
| Don’t know |
20% |
16% |
12% |
12% |
12% |
12% |
31% |
23% |
18% |
19% |
26% |
20% |
17% |
15% |
In terms of the economy overall, there was a similar response to the 2013 budget as to the last two year’s budgets. 26% (no change from last year) thought the budget was good for the economy and 34% (up 2%) thought it was bad. 56% of Labor voters thought the budget was good for the economy and 8% bad while only 8% of Liberal/national voters thought it was good and 56% bad.
38% of respondents thought the Federal budget was neither good nor bad for them personally – 13% (down 4% on last year) said it was good and 36% (up 10%) bad. 51% of those aged 55+ thought it was neither.
17% (down 14%) thought it was good for working people and 40% (up 16%) thought it was bad.
15% (up 5%) thought the budget was good for businesses, 33% (down 10%) bad and 32% said it was neither.
Government spending cuts
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget has cut Government spending by too much, not enough or about the right amount?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Cut spending too much |
20% |
20% |
19% |
23% |
| Not cut spending enough |
34% |
13% |
54% |
25% |
| Cut spending about right amount |
21% |
42% |
9% |
29% |
| Don’t know |
25% |
25% |
18% |
23% |
34% thought that the Federal budget had not cut Government spending enough. 20% thought it had cut spending too much and 21% thought it had cut spending about right.
42% of Labor voters thought the spending cuts were about right while 54% of Liberal/National voters thought spending had not been cut enough.
Budget surplus
Q. Thinking about the Federal Government budget, how important do you believe it is for the budget to be in surplus…?
|
Total impor |
Total |
Very impor |
Quite Impor |
Not very impor |
Not |
Don’t know |
Total impor |
|
| …for the country as a whole |
69% |
26% |
28% |
41% |
22% |
4% |
5% |
68% |
| …for you personally |
54% |
39% |
20% |
34% |
29% |
10% |
7% |
46% |
A clear majority of respondents (69%) regard having a Federal Government budget surplus to be important for the country as a whole, whereas a somewhat smaller majority regard it to be important for them personally (54%).
39% of respondents believe having a Federal Government budget surplus was not important for them personally.
Since this question was last asked in October, those who think a budget surplus is important for them personally has increased from 46% to 54%.
Those most likely to think a budget surplus is important to them personally were Liberal/National voters (67%) and full-time workers (60%).
Federal government surplus
Q. Thinking about the federal government budget, how important do you believe it is for the budget to be in surplus…?
|
Total important |
Total not important |
Very important |
Quite Important |
Not very important |
Not at all important |
Don’t know |
|
| …for the country as a whole |
68% |
22% |
26% |
42% |
18% |
4% |
10% |
| …for you personally |
46% |
42% |
15% |
31% |
31% |
11% |
11% |
A clear majority of respondents (68%) regard having a federal government budget surplus to be important for the country as a whole, whereas a significantly smaller portion regard to be important for them personally (46%).
Forty two per cent (42%) of respondents believe having a federal government budget surplus was not important for them personally.
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
||||
|
Total important |
Total not important |
Total important |
Total not important |
Total important |
Total not important |
|
| …for the country as a whole |
59% |
31% |
78% |
16% |
58% |
34% |
| …for you personally |
39% |
49% |
59% |
32% |
28% |
65% |
Looking at the results by voting intention, Coalition voters were the most likely to regard a federal budget surplus to be important for the country as a whole (78%) as well as for them personally (59%).
Greens voters were the most likely to regard it as not important for them personally (65%).
Will the Budget solve our two speed economy?
Paul Bastian welcomes the tax on mining profits and the Government’s continued commitment to manufacturing.
It’s no secret that the mining boom has pushed the dollar sky high and caused problems for manufacturers. But Paul Bastian believes the Government is right to be investing in the future and promoting maths and science.
He tells 3Q that innovation in manufacturing is the key to the future and it must be protected at all costs.
Interest in Federal Budget
Q. Thinking about the Federal Budget – how much attention did you pay to this week’s Federal Budget?
|
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
| Total a lot/some |
66% |
53% |
52% |
54% |
| Total a little/none |
31% |
44% |
45% |
43% |
| A lot |
29% |
18% |
19% |
20% |
| Some |
37% |
35% |
33% |
34% |
| A little |
25% |
29% |
31% |
31% |
| None |
6% |
15% |
14% |
12% |
| Can’t say |
3% |
3% |
2% |
3% |
Just over half (54%) of respondents said they paid a lot or some attention to the Federal Budget. This is much the same as the corresponding figure of 52% for last year’s budget.
Those most interested were Liberal/National voters (61%), Labor voters (59%) and people aged 55+ (64%). Only 42% of respondents aged 18-34 paid a lot or some attention to the budget.
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