Q. The Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently said that hard work and education, regarding everyone as equal, showing respect and plain speaking are Australian values. Do you agree or disagree that this is a good definition of Australian values?

79% of respondents agreed with Julia Gillard’s description of Australian values – 91% of Labor voters agreed, 76% of Liberal/National voters and 79% of Greens voters. Comments »

 Q. Do you agree or disagree that this definition of Australian values describes the political leaders Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Bob Brown?

64% agreed that the definition of Australian values describes Julia Gillard, 39% Tony Abbott and 36% Bob Brown.

Among their own voters – 90% of Labor voters agreed they describe Julia Gillard, 73% of Liberal/National voters agreed they describe Tony Abbott and 72% of Greens voters agreed they describe Bob Brown.

By gender – 62% of men and 68% of women agree they describe Julia Gillard and 43% of men and 34% of women agree they describe Tony Abbott. Comments »

 Q. How would you rate the job Prime Minister Julia Gillard has done in handling the mining tax issue?

 58% rated the Prime Minister’s handling of the mining tax issue as good and 25% rated it poor. Labor voters rated it 87% good and 6% poor and Greens voters rated it 60% good and 27% poor. 40% of Liberal/National voters rated it good and 49% poor. Comments »

  Q. Do you approve or disapprove the way the Prime Minister Julia Gillard is addressing the asylum seeker issue?

 42% approved of the way the Prime Minister is addressing the asylum seeker issue and 33% disapproved. 63% of Labor voters approved and 15% disapproved. 57% Liberal/National voters disapproved and 26% approved and for Greens voters 32% approved and 41% disapproved. Comments »

First published on The Punch 6/7/2010

There is a wildcard hanging over the upcoming election, a factor outside the control of the any politician – it resembles an angry fish, and it is looking for someone to bite.

Question: Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same? Source: Essential Report

It is the long-term trend line on people’s economic confidence, and it shows that after we sounded a collective sigh of relief last year, we are beginning to fear the worst again, a sense of economy insecurity that can affect our work, our home lives – and the way we look at politics.

The story of the fish charts the highs and lows of first term Labor, it also offers some tantalising clues about what happens next. Why a fish? As the graph above shows, the competing stories of confidence and despondency have taken a wild journey over the past two years.  With fear surging as the GFC hit, curtailing as stimulus stabilised the economy, but now rising again.

Kevin Rudd inherited a nation fearing the worst – the US sub-prime was not just a theory – big banks collapsed, homes were lost, mass lay-offs. As the word ‘contagion’ was bandied around – it emerged that many Australian local councils had unwittingly invested in the toxic loans to bad security risks. Economists warned us of our unsustainable levels of household debt. The notion of economic carnage in Australia was real.

Comments »

Q. If there was a Federal election held today, to which party would you probably give your first preference?

Q. If you ‘don’t know’ on the above question, which party are you currently leaning to?

1,797 sample size

NB.  The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived the first preference/leaning to voting questions.  Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results.

* Sample is the aggregation of two weeks’ polling data. Comments »

Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

After one week as Prime Minister, 48% approve of Julia Gillard’s performance and 27% disapprove. 26% could not give an opinion. Julia Gillard’s approval rating is 7% higher than Kevin Rudd’s last result and 20% lower on the disapproval rating.

85% of Labor voters approved and 4% disapproved. Liberal/National voters split 19% approve and 54% disapprove.

Men split 46% approve/31% disapprove and women 50% approve/23% disapprove. Comments »

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

53% think Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 26% prefer Tony Abbott – somewhat better than Kevin Rudd’s last result of 47%/30% and also better than last week’s figures for Julia Gillard just after she became Prime Minister.

Men prefer Julia Gillard over Tony Abbott 48% to 31% and women 57%/22%. Comments »