House of Representatives
Q. Thinking about the House of Representatives, which of the following do you think would provide the best Government for Australia?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| The governing party has an absolute majority in the House of Representatives |
49% |
47% |
61% |
25% |
| The independents and minor parties hold the balance of power in the House of Representatives |
25% |
28% |
18% |
56% |
| Don’t know |
26% |
24% |
21% |
19% |
49% think that the best Government would be if the governing party has an absolute majority in the House of Representatives while 25% think the independents and minor parties should hold the balance of power.
A majority (56%) of Greens voters would prefer to see the independents and minor parties should hold the balance of power while a majority (61%) of Liberal/National voters think the governing party should have an absolute majority.
Composition of Parliament
Q. Thinking about the Federal Government, which of the following scenarios would you prefer –
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Green | |
| One of the major parties having a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate | 36% | 36% | 49% | 7% |
| One of the major parties having a majority in the House of Representatives and the other having a majority in the Senate | 21% | 16% | 27% | 10% |
| One of the major parties having a majority in the House of Representatives and the Greens having the balance of power in the Senate | 16% | 22% | 4% | 63% |
| Don’t know | 28% | 26% | 21% | 19% |
Most respondents think that ‘one of the major parties having a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate’ is preferable (36%). Lib/Nat voters are the most likely to prefer this scenario (49%) and Greens voters the least likely to do so (7%). Male respondents were also more likely to prefer this scenario (40%) than female respondents (32%).
Respondents then selected ‘one of the major parties having a majority in the House of Representatives and the other having a majority in the Senate’ as their next preferred scenario (21%). Lib/Nat voters are the most likely to regard this scenario as preferable (27%).
The least favoured option amongst respondents is ‘one of the major parties having a majority in the House of Representatives and the Greens having the balance of power in the Senate’, with 16% selecting this option. Greens voters are the most likely to regard this option as the most preferable (63%).
Preferred Voting System
Q. Which of the following voting systems would you prefer when voting for the Federal House of Representatives.
- A preferential voting system where voters rank all candidates in order of preference.
- An optional preferential system where voters can rank one, some, or all candidates in order of preference.
- A “first past the post” system, where voters only vote for one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins.
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Preferential | 22% | 31% | 18% | 30% |
| Optional preferential | 26% | 26% | 24% | 33% |
| First past the post | 44% | 40% | 53% | 31% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 4% | 4% | 6% |
Of the three voting options given, 44% favoured “first past the post”, 26% optional preferential and 22% the current preferential system.
Optional preferential was most preferred by those aged under 35 (35%) while older groups strongly favoured first past the post (50% of aged 35-54 and 54% of aged 55+).
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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