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Budget Surplus, economic issues, inflation, Interest rates, tax levels, unemployment, wealth disparity
Economic issue of most concern
Q. Which of the following economic issues are you personally most concerned about?
Total
Vote Labor
Vote Lib/Nat
Vote Greens
Vote other/
indep-endent
2 Sep 13
19 Nov
Unemployment 25%
28%
23%
22%
18%
23%
24%
Wealth disparity 21%
29%
11%
42%
27%
19%
16%
Inflation 15%
17%
15%
4%
17%
13%
16%
Tax levels 13%
11%
16%
–
19%
15%
13%
Interest rates 12%
10%
17%
8%
13%
9%
16%
Budget surplus 5%
1%
10%
8%
3%
11%
4%
None of them 4%
3%
4%
14%
3%
7%
6%
Don’t know 4%
2%
3%
2%
1%
3%
4%
25% were most concerned about unemployment, 21% about wealth disparity and 15% about inflation. Only 5% were most concerned about a budget surplus.
Since this question was asked in November, concern about wealth disparity has increased from 16% to 21% and concern about interest rates has dropped from 16% to 12%.
Labor voters were most concerned about wealth disparity (29%) and unemployment (28%), while Liberal/National voters were most concerned about unemployment (23%).
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020913, 2 September 2013, Budget Surplus, economic issue, inflation, Interest rates, tax levels, unemployment, wealth disparity
Economic issue of most concern
Q. Which of the following economic issues are you personally most concerned about?
Total
Vote Labor
Vote Lib/Nat
Vote Greens
Unemployment 23%
28%
22%
20%
Wealth disparity 19%
29%
7%
43%
Tax levels 15%
8%
21%
12%
Inflation 13%
13%
14%
5%
Budget surplus 11%
3%
20%
3%
Interest rates 9%
10%
10%
8%
None of them 7%
6%
6%
9%
Don’t know 3%
4%
1%
–
23% were most concerned about unemployment, 19% about wealth disparity and 15% about tax levels. Only 11% were most concerned about a budget surplus.
Labor voters were most concerned about wealth disparity (29%) and unemployment (28%), while Liberal/National voters were most concerned about unemployment (22%), tax levels (21%) and a budget surplus (20%).
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04 June 2012, 040612, 3Q Ep 14, Australian economy, Coalition, Financial Assistance, inflation, Interest rates, Labor Party, peter lewis, public opinion, unemployment
TRENDS: Feeling the pain: fair go for Tories
Labor takes pride in being there for those up against hard luck. Targeted financial assistance comes in many forms, whether co-investment to an auto industry being hammered by the two-speed economy, childcare rebates to hard-up families, or the straight cash injection into middle Australian wallets.
It appears there is a new victim of the Australian economy in need of a rescue package: the Coalition voter.
With interest rates, inflation and unemployment all under the 5 per cent threshold, Australia is bucking the global trend in maintaining stability in the face of global unrest. But our polling this week shows only around one third of Australians are prepared to say the economy is performing well.
And while many are unimpressed with Australia’s performance, Coalition voters – and that’s a lot of people these days – are feeling the economic pain more intensely.
Read more on this at the Drum
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28 May 2012, 280512, Australian economy, inflation, Interest rates, unemployement
Agreement with Economic Figures
Q. Some say that official figures show Australia’s economy is doing very well, especially compared to the rest of the world. The interest rate, the unemployment rate and the inflation rate are all less than 5%. Do you agree or disagree that this shows the state of the economy is good?
Total
Vote Labor
Vote Lib/Nat
Vote Greens
Total agree 52%
75%
39%
70%
Total disagree 37%
17%
54%
23%
Strongly agree 9%
20%
3%
16%
Agree 43%
55%
36%
54%
Disagree 27%
12%
39%
17%
Strongly disagree 10%
5%
15%
6%
Don’t know 10%
7%
7%
8
When told that official figures show Australia’s economy is doing well, 52% agreed and 37% disagreed.
Those most likely to disagree were Liberal/National voters (54%), aged 45+ (45%) and people with incomes of $600-$1,000pw (43%).
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banking regulation, debt, Housing affordability, inflation, party best at, pension, salaries, superannuation, tax, unemployment, wages
Party Best at Handling Issues
Q. Between Liberal and Labor, which party do you think would be best at managing each of the following issues?
Labor Liberal No difference Don’t know Labor-Liberal difference Improving wages for low income earners 34% 20% 34% 13% +14 The age pension 27% 23% 37% 13% +4 Executive salaries 22% 20% 44% 14% +2 Unemployment 24% 25% 38% 13% -1 Regulation of large corporations 21% 24% 41% 14% -3 Affordability of housing 19% 24% 44% 13% -5 Jobs going overseas 18% 24% 44% 14% -6 Superannuation 18% 27% 40% 15% -9 Petrol and energy prices 16% 26% 45% 13% -10 Regulation of banks 19% 29% 39% 14% -10 Interest rates 17% 30% 41% 13% -13 Food prices and inflation generally 18% 31% 38% 13% -13 Taxation 18% 32% 37% 13% -14 Government debt 15% 42% 31% 12% -27 The only substantial lead for the Labor Party is on improving wages for low income earners (34% to 20%).
Liberal Party strengths are in managing Government debt (42%/15%), taxation (32%/18%), food prices and inflation (31%/18%) and interest rates (30%/17%).
Although overall opinions are closely related to voting intention, the Liberal Party generally performs better among its voters than the Labor Party does with its voters. On Government debt Labor voters split 35% Labor/14% Liberal/42% no difference and on petrol and energy prices 37%/2%/50%. Comments »
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economy, inflation, Interest rates, profits, unemployment
Australia’s economy
Q. How important are each of the following for Australia to have a strong economy?
Very important Somewhat important Not so important Don’t know Low inflation 43% 42% 5% 10% Low unemployment rate 57% 33% 3% 6% Increased company profits 17% 46% 26% 11% Low interest rates 38% 43% 10% 9% A reduction in Government spending 35% 38% 19% 9% Higher GDP 27% 41% 6% 26% Increasing share prices 20% 40% 23% 16% Increased wages for workers 30% 48% 15% 7% Over half (57%) of those surveyed think that low unemployment rates is a very important for Australia to have a strong economy, 43% think low inflation is very important and 38% think low interest rates are very important.
Labor voters were more likely to think that increased wages for workers are very important for Australia to have a strong economy (36%).
Coalition voters were more likely to think that increased company profits (22%), a reduction in Government spending (48%) and an increasing in share prices (23%) are very important for Australia to have a strong economy.
There were no substantial differences amongst the various demographic groups. Comments »
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Australian jobs, budget, economy, Industrial Relations, inflation, Interest rates, Labor, Liberal, party best at
Party best at looking after Australia’s interests
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – would by best at the following –
Labor Liberal No difference Don’t know Being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to issues affecting them at the workplace 48% 18% 24% 10% Handling the economy in a way that best protects ordinary working people in Australia 39% 30% 20% 11% Creating jobs for Australian workers 36% 27% 26% 11% Representing you and people like you 35% 30% 24% 11% Handling the economy 30% 37% 23% 10% Controlling inflation 24% 35% 31% 11% Keeping interest rates low 23% 29% 35% 13% Dealing with the budget and keeping government spending down in general 22% 42% 26% 10% Just under half (48%) of those surveyed think that Labor is the best party at being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to issues affecting them at the workplace, 39% think Labor is best at handling the economy in a way that protects ordinary working people in Australia.
The Liberal Party score highest in terms of dealing with the budget and keeping government spending down in general (42%) and handling the economy (37%).
In terms of being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to issues affecting them at the workplace, under half (46%) of Coalition voters surveyed think the Liberal Party is best at handling this, 33% of these voters think there is no difference and 16% of Coalition voters think Labor is best at being on the side of Australian working people when it comes to workplace issues. Comments »
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economic issues, economy, inflation, Interest rates, pension, petrol prices, superannuation, taxation, unemployment
Concern Regarding National Economic Issues
Q. How concerned are you personally about each of the following economic issues facing Australia today?
The issues that most people are very concerned about include food prices and inflation generally (55%), jobs going overseas (49%) and executive salaries (48%). A significant number of people are very concerned about petrol and energy prices (45%) and affordability of housing (41%).
Coalition voters were more likely to be very concerned about food prices and inflation generally (60%), jobs going overseas (57%) and Government debt (54%). Labor voters were more likely to be very concerned about executive wages (54%) and improving wages for low income earners (32%).
Females were more likely than males to be very concerned on most issues, in particular food prices and inflation generally (66% v 45%), improving wages for low income earners (34% v 22%) and unemployment (33% v 25%).