Liberal party Leadership
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
27 Sep 10 | 28 February 2011 | ||||
Total | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Tony Abbott | 26% | 24% | 9% | 45% | 1% |
Malcolm Turnbull | 20% | 18% | 24% | 16% | 29% |
Joe Hockey | 15% | 16% | 18% | 17% | 17% |
Julie Bishop | 5% | 4% | 6% | 2% | 4% |
Andrew Robb | na | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
Someone else | na | 14% | 18% | 8% | 27% |
Don’t know | 33% | 22% | 23% | 10% | 20% |
24% of respondents believed that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party, 18% prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 16% Joe Hockey.
Tony Abbott is preferred by 45% of Liberal/National voters while Malcolm Turnbull is preferred by Labor (24%) and Greens voters (29%).
Tony Abbott is more preferred by men (30%) – women are split between Tony Abbott (19%) and Joe Hockey (19%). 23% of men prefer Malcolm Turnbull compared to 14% of women.
These figures are little changed since the question was last asked in September 2010.
Trust to Handle Banking Issues
Q. Who would you trust most to deal with issues affecting the Australian banking industry – the Treasurer Wayne Swan and the Labor Party or the shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and the Liberal Party?
Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Wayne Swan and the Labor Party | 33% | 69% | 5% | 52% |
Joe Hockey and the Liberal Party | 38% | 5% | 80% | 13% |
Don’t know | 29% | 26% | 14% | 35% |
38% have most trust in Joe Hockey and the Liberal Party to handle issues affecting the banking industry and 33% trust Wayne Swan and the Labor Party.
Those aged 55+ trust Joe Hockey more (47% to 35%) while those on incomes under $600pw trust Wayne Swan more (42% to 38%)
Regulation is the new black
First Published on The Drum 02/11/2010
Joe Hockey is swanning around the airwaves like the coolest kid at school, convinced he’s discovered a new fad that’s sure to catch on. It’s called regulation and it rocks.
Of course many old hands may wonder whether all Joe has done is stumble upon a bit of retro, like some early Midnight Oil recordings, but right now Joe is stoked, he’s got a new tattoo and everyone is checking him out. Even the Greens want to play with him.
Still, if the old post-election cliche that the ‘people always get it right’ has any sort of credibility, Joe’s biggest risk is he’ll soon be overtaken by a bunch of converts who want to take the trend way more seriously than a wide-boy with a beat-box can.
As the latest Essential Report shows, there are votes to be won in regulating the bastard banks, especially in a week when Westpac is tipped to tip the Big Four’s profits over the $20 billion mark.
Liberal Party Leadership
Q. Which of the following do you think would be the best person to lead the Liberal Party at the next election?
Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Tony Abbott | 23% | 5% | 50% | 5% |
Malcolm Turnbull | 22% | 27% | 19% | 39% |
Joe Hockey | 14% | 15% | 15% | 12% |
Julie Bishop | 6% | 9% | 5% | 7% |
Andrew Robb | 1% | 1% | 1% | – |
Someone else | 15% | 22% | 3% | 18% |
Don’t know | 19% | 21% | 7% | 19% |
23% think Tony Abbott would be the best person to lead the Liberal Party at the next election, 22% prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 14% Joe Hockey.
Among Coalition voters, 50% prefer Tony Abbott, 19% Malcolm Turnbull and 15% Joe Hockey.
Tony Abbott is preferred over Malcolm Turnbull by those aged under 45 22% to 19% but the over 45’s prefer Malcolm Turnbull over Tony Abbott 27% to 25%.
A similar question (although not exactly the same) asked in September showed Tony Abbott with a 26% to 20% lead over Malcolm Turnbull overall and 53% to 15% among Coalition voters. Joe Hockey’s support was 15% in total and 17% among Liberal voters. Comments »
Best Leader of Liberal Party
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens
|
|
Tony Abbott | 26% | 10% | 53% | 2% |
Malcolm Turnbull | 20% | 27% | 15% | 27% |
Joe Hockey | 15% | 15% | 17% | 17% |
Julie Bishop | 5% | 8% | 2% | 10% |
Don’t know | 33% | 41% | 13% | 44% |
26% of people believe that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 20% believe Malcolm Turnbull is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 33% don’t know.
27% of Labor voters think that Malcolm Turnbull is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 53% of Lib/Nat voters think that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party. 44% of Green voters don’t know who the best leader of the Liberal Party is.
28% of males, compared with 24% of females think that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party.
42% of females don’t know who the best leader of the Liberal Party is.
38% of those aged 18-24 don’t know who the best leader of the Liberal Party is. 39% of those aged 65+ think that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party.
Preferred Liberal Party Leader
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
6 July 09
Total |
17 Aug 09
Total |
30 November 2009 | ||||
Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | |||
Joe Hockey | 17% | 16% | 22% | 27% | 28% | 14% |
Malcolm Turnbull | 13% | 12% | 14% | 15% | 20% | 14% |
Tony Abbott | 7% | 7% | 9% | 8% | 13% | 3% |
Julie Bishop | 8% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 5% | 9% |
Andrew Robb | * | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | * |
Someone else | 20% | 24% | 19% | 19% | 14% | 27% |
Don’t know | 32% | 33% | 28% | 22% | 18% | 33% |
* Not asked. Brendan Nelson (3%) and Greg Hunt (1%) were included in the July poll.
22% of people think Joe Hockey would make the best leader of the Liberal Party, 14% prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 9% prefer Tony Abbott. Just under half (47%) do not think that any of those listed would be the best leader of the Liberal Party – 19% prefer someone else as leader and 28% don’t know.
28% of Coalition voters think that Joe Hockey would make the best leader of the Liberal party, 20% of these same voters prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 13% prefer Tony Abbott. Labor voters were more likely to think that Joe Hockey would make the best leader (27%).

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
Sign up for updates
Receive the Essential Report in your inbox.Essential Tags
Recent Comments
