Essential Report
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
| TOTAL:
Closely |
TOTAL:
Not closely |
|
| The Covid-19 outbreak in South Australia | 69% | 31% |
| The trial results of Covid-19 vaccines | 66% | 34% |
| The Trump campaign’s ongoing legal disputes regarding the US presidential election | 56% | 44% |
| The alleged war crimes committed by Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan | 53% | 47% |
- The Covid-19 outbreak in South Australia was the news item most closely followed over the past two weeks (69%), followed closely by the trial results of Covid-19 vaccines (66%).
- The Trump campaign’s ongoing legal disputes regarding the US presidential election was followed by 56% of people and the alleged war crimes committed by Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan by 53%.
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
The alleged war crimes committed by Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 17% | 23% | 10% | 17% | 16% | 17% | 19% | 17% | 22% | 17% |
| Fairly closely | 36% | 39% | 34% | 32% | 33% | 42% | 38% | 40% | 27% | 33% |
| Not that closely | 31% | 27% | 36% | 32% | 31% | 31% | 30% | 32% | 31% | 29% |
| Not closely at all | 16% | 11% | 21% | 18% | 20% | 10% | 13% | 11% | 21% | 21% |
| TOTAL: Closely | 53% | 62% | 44% | 49% | 49% | 59% | 57% | 57% | 49% | 50% |
| TOTAL: Not closely | 47% | 38% | 56% | 51% | 51% | 41% | 43% | 43% | 51% | 50% |
| Base (n) | 1,034 | 528 | 506 | 329 | 320 | 385 | 322 | 430 | 88 | 107 |
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
The Trump campaign’s ongoing legal disputes regarding the US presidential election
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 22% | 29% | 16% | 23% | 25% | 19% | 21% | 25% | 29% | 28% |
| Fairly closely | 34% | 36% | 33% | 38% | 31% | 34% | 39% | 36% | 28% | 28% |
| Not that closely | 29% | 23% | 33% | 27% | 28% | 31% | 28% | 29% | 27% | 22% |
| Not closely at all | 15% | 11% | 19% | 13% | 17% | 15% | 12% | 10% | 16% | 22% |
| TOTAL: Closely | 56% | 65% | 48% | 60% | 56% | 54% | 60% | 61% | 57% | 55% |
| TOTAL: Not closely | 44% | 35% | 52% | 40% | 44% | 46% | 40% | 39% | 43% | 45% |
| Base (n) | 1,034 | 528 | 506 | 329 | 320 | 385 | 322 | 430 | 88 | 107 |
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
The trial results of Covid-19 vaccines
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 23% | 28% | 18% | 16% | 27% | 25% | 21% | 27% | 25% | 22% |
| Fairly closely | 43% | 42% | 44% | 47% | 37% | 46% | 51% | 44% | 35% | 33% |
| Not that closely | 25% | 23% | 26% | 28% | 25% | 22% | 21% | 23% | 31% | 29% |
| Not closely at all | 9% | 7% | 11% | 9% | 11% | 7% | 7% | 5% | 10% | 15% |
| TOTAL: Closely | 66% | 70% | 63% | 63% | 63% | 72% | 72% | 71% | 59% | 55% |
| TOTAL: Not closely | 34% | 30% | 37% | 37% | 37% | 28% | 28% | 29% | 41% | 45% |
| Base (n) | 1,034 | 528 | 506 | 329 | 320 | 385 | 322 | 430 | 88 | 107 |
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
| TOTAL:
CLOSELY |
TOTAL:
NOT CLOSELY |
|
| The 2020 US election | 68% | 32% |
| The easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria | 73% | 27% |
| Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the Shadow Cabinet | 29% | 71% |
| The allegations of sexual misconduct in the Federal Parliament, as outlined in an ABC Four Corners documentary | 36% | 64% |
- The easing of restrictions in Victoria was the news item most closely followed over the past two weeks (73%), followed closely by the events following the US election (68%).
- The fall-out following the Four Corners documentary exposing allegations of sexual misconduct in the Federal Parliament was followed by 36% of people and Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the Shadow Cabinet by 29%.
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
The 2020 US election
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 28% | 31% | 24% | 28% | 27% | 28% | 30% | 32% | 28% | 26% |
| Fairly closely | 41% | 44% | 37% | 39% | 43% | 40% | 40% | 45% | 40% | 32% |
| Not that closely | 22% | 18% | 26% | 24% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 18% | 24% | 29% |
| Not closely at all | 10% | 7% | 12% | 9% | 9% | 11% | 9% | 5% | 7% | 13% |
| TOTAL: CLOSELY | 68% | 75% | 62% | 67% | 70% | 68% | 70% | 77% | 69% | 58% |
| TOTAL: NOT CLOSELY | 32% | 25% | 38% | 33% | 30% | 32% | 30% | 23% | 31% | 42% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 479 | 531 | 250 | 383 | 377 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
The easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 29% | 28% | 29% | 20% | 32% | 33% | 31% | 32% | 25% | 23% |
| Fairly closely | 44% | 46% | 42% | 42% | 43% | 47% | 48% | 46% | 35% | 46% |
| Not that closely | 20% | 20% | 20% | 26% | 19% | 16% | 17% | 17% | 30% | 22% |
| Not closely at all | 7% | 5% | 9% | 12% | 6% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 9% | 10% |
| TOTAL: CLOSELY | 73% | 75% | 71% | 62% | 75% | 80% | 79% | 79% | 61% | 69% |
| TOTAL: NOT CLOSELY | 27% | 25% | 29% | 38% | 25% | 20% | 21% | 21% | 39% | 31% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 479 | 531 | 250 | 383 | 377 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
Interest in news stories
Q. How closely have you been following these news stories in the last fortnight?
Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the Shadow Cabinet
| Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
| Very closely | 10% | 14% | 5% | 7% | 12% | 10% | 8% | 13% | 10% | 7% |
| Fairly closely | 20% | 25% | 15% | 19% | 18% | 21% | 21% | 22% | 13% | 24% |
| Not that closely | 36% | 36% | 35% | 37% | 35% | 35% | 42% | 34% | 34% | 29% |
| Not closely at all | 35% | 26% | 44% | 37% | 35% | 34% | 29% | 31% | 43% | 40% |
| TOTAL: CLOSELY | 29% | 38% | 20% | 26% | 30% | 31% | 29% | 36% | 23% | 30% |
| TOTAL: NOT CLOSELY | 71% | 62% | 80% | 74% | 70% | 69% | 71% | 64% | 77% | 70% |
| Base (n) | 1,010 | 479 | 531 | 250 | 383 | 377 | 323 | 404 | 80 | 122 |
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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