Q. Thinking about immigration, should the Government provide incentives for new migrants to settle in specific regions of Australia which need and can cope with higher populations?
| % | |
| Should provide incentives to settle in specific regions | 55% |
| Should not provide incentives to settle in specific regions | 30% |
| Don’t know | 15% |
55% agreed that the Government should provide incentives for new migrants to settle in specific regions of Australia which need and can cope with higher populations and 30% disagreed.
Those most likely to agree were Greens voters (74%), Labor voters (62%) and high income earners (60% of incomes over $1,600 per week).
Liberal/National voters split 54% should/36% should not. Comments »
Q. Do you think Australia needs a larger population, a smaller population or about the same population in the following areas?
|
|
Larger population |
Smaller population |
Same population |
Don’t know |
|
Large capital cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane |
7% |
36% |
51% |
6% |
|
Other capital cities like Adelaide, Perth, Hobart |
36% |
12% |
44% |
7% |
|
Major regional centres |
56% |
8% |
28% |
8% |
|
Smaller regional towns |
64% |
6% |
22% |
7% |
There was strong support for increased population in the less populated areas of Australia.
Only 7% supported larger populations in the major capitals cities, while 36% supported larger populations in Adelaide, Perth and Hobart.
More than half supported larger populations in major regional centres (56%) and smaller regional towns (64%).
Opinions about the populations of the major capitals were similar across states, but respondents from SA/WA/Tasmania were less likely to want larger populations in their capitals cities (22% want larger population and 61% the same population).
Liberal voters and Greens voters were more likely to favour larger populations in regional areas. 61% of Liberal voters favoured larger populations in regional centres and 70% in smaller towns. 70% of Greens voters favoured larger populations in regional centres and 79% in smaller towns.
asylum, asylum seekers, immigration
Q. Do you think the Federal Labor Government is too tough or too soft on asylum seekers or is it taking the right approach?
| % | |
| Too tough | 6% |
| Too soft | 65% |
| Taking the right approach | 18% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
Most people (65%) think the Federal Labor Government is too soft on asylum seekers, 18% think the Government is taking the right approach, 6% think they are too tough and 11% don’t know.
Labor voters were more likely to think the Government is taking the right approach (31%), Coalition voters were more likely to think the Government is being too soft (90%) and Green voters were more likely to think the approach is too tough (24%).
56% of Labor voters and 25% of Green voters think the Government is being too soft on asylum seekers.
18 – 24 year olds were more likely to think the Government is taking the right approach (29%), while people aged 55 years and over were more likely to think the Government is too soft on asylum seekers (76%).
Males were more likely than females to think the Government is being too soft (69% v 62%).
When we asked a similar question in April last year, we found that 55% thought the Government was being too soft on asylum seekers, 26% thought the Government’s approach was about right and 4% thought the Government was too tough. Comments »
asylum, asylum seekers, Greens, immigration, Labor, Liberal
Q. Which party would you trust most to handle the issue of asylum seekers?
| % | |
| The Labor Party | 23% |
| The Liberal Party | 34% |
| No difference | 28% |
| Don’t know | 15% |
34% of people trust the Liberal Party most to handle the issue of asylum seekers and 23% trust the Labor Party more. 28% think there is no difference and 15% don’t know.
Results followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to trust Labor (46%) and Coalition voters were more likely to trust Liberal most (77%). Green voters were more likely to trust Labor when it comes to handling the issue of asylum seekers (38%).
34% of Labor voters think there is no difference when it comes to which party they trust to handle the issue.
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to trust the Liberal party to handle the issue (49%), while those aged 18 – 24 were more likely to trust Labor (38%).
In November 2009, we asked people which party they think is best to handle the issue of asylum seekers. We found that 23% thought Labor, 27% thought Liberal and 37% thought there would be no difference in terms of which party would be best to handle the issue. Comments »
economy, environment, immigration, infrastructure, population
Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements about Australia’s population growth?
| Total agree | Total disagree | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | |
| We just don’t have the infrastructure and services to manage more population growth | 75% | 19% | 36% | 39% | 14% | 5% | 6% |
| Immigration should be slowed as it causes too much change to our society | 64% | 29% | 32% | 32% | 20% | 9% | 7% |
| Australia has a fragile environment that cannot cope with a much larger population | 61% | 30% | 24% | 37% | 24% | 6% | 8% |
| Having a larger population will help our economy | 38% | 52% | 7% | 31% | 34% | 18% | 10% |
| Australia has the space and resources to cope with a much larger population | 35% | 58% | 8% | 27% | 31% | 27% | 7% |
When it comes to statements about population growth, most people agree that we just don’t have the infrastructure and services to manage more population growth (75%). 64% agree that immigration should be slowed as it causes too much change to our society and 61% think Australia has a fragile environment that cannot cope with a much larger population. More than half (58%) disagree that Australia has the space and resources to cope with a much larger population.
Labor voters were more likely to agree that having a larger population will help our economy (42%) and disagree that we just don’t have the infrastructure and services to manage more population growth (23%).
Coalition voters were more likely to agree that we just don’t have the infrastructure and services to manage more population growth (82%) and agree that immigration should be slowed as it causes too much change to our society (74%).
Greens voters were more likely to agree that Australia has a fragile environment that cannot cope with a much larger population (66%). Comments »