13 May 2013, 130513, 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.
balance of power, Essential Report, Federal Government, federal politics, Greens, house of representatives, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, Senate
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%).
Essential Report, Greens, house of representatives, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, voting, voting system
Q. Which of the following voting systems would you prefer when voting for the Federal House of Representatives.
| 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+).