Barack Obama, ER, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, Obama, Obama Visit, PM, poll, Polling, Prime Minister, US President
Q. How would you rate the performance of the Prime Minister Julia Gillard during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total good | 38% | 76% | 16% | 51% |
| Total poor | 23% | 2% | 42% | 10% |
| Very good | 12% | 36% | 2% | 6% |
| Good | 26% | 40% | 14% | 45% |
| Average | 31% | 18% | 37% | 32% |
| Poor | 8% | – | 15% | 5% |
| Very poor | 15% | 2% | 27% | 5% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 3% | 5% | 7% |
Overall, the Prime Minister’s performance during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama was rated positively.
38% rated her performance during the recent visit by US President Barack Obama as good and 23% rated it poor. 31% thought it was average.
76% of Labor voters and 51% of Greens voters rated it good, while 42% of Liberal/National voters rated it poor and 37% rated it as average.
43% of women rated her performance goods compared to 33% of men.
approval of PM, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, Labor, Polling
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| 19 Jul 2010 | 20 Dec 2010 | 14 Mar | 14 June | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | 14 Nov | |
| Total approve | 52% | 43% | 41% | 34% | 28% | 34% | 37% |
| Total disapprove | 30% | 40% | 46% | 54% | 64% | 59% | 55% |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 10% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 7% | 8% |
| Approve | 41% | 33% | 34% | 28% | 23% | 27% | 29% |
| Disapprove | 17% | 24% | 22% | 29% | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 13% | 16% | 24% | 25% | 36% | 32% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 17% | 13% | 13% | 8% | 7% | 9% |
Julia Gillard’s approval rating has continued the improvement shown last month. 37% (up 3%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 55% (down 4%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -25 to -18 over the last 4 weeks. This represents Julia Gillard’s best ratings since May.
81% of Labor voters approve (up 7%) and 16% disapprove (down 5%).
By gender – men 37% approve/57% disapprove, women 36% approve/52% disapprove.
Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 14 Mar | 14 June | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | 14 Nov | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 44% | 41% | 36% | 38% | 41% | 83% | 7% | 80% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 33% | 36% | 40% | 39% | 36% | 5% | 73% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 23% | 24% | 12% | 20% | 17% |
41% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 36% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Julia Gillard of 6% on last month’s figures (from -1% to +5%). This is the best result for Julia Gillard since June.
Men are evenly split 39%/39% and women favour Julia Gillard 42%/33%.
Alan Joyce, Essential Report, fair work australia, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Polling, Qantas, Qantas Dispute, tony abbott, unions
Q. Did you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following in the Qantas dispute?
| Regular air travellers | |||||||||
| Total approve | Total disapprove | Strongly approve | Approve | Disapprove | Strongly disapprove | Don’t know | Total approve | Total disapprove | |
| Julia Gillard and the Labor Government | 30% | 49% | 6% | 24% | 22% | 27% | 20% | 30% | 56% |
| Tony Abbott and the opposition | 27% | 45% | 5% | 22% | 21% | 24% | 28% | 36% | 45% |
| Qantas management | 27% | 57% | 6% | 21% | 28% | 29% | 16% | 37% | 56% |
| Qantas workers | 33% | 49% | 7% | 26% | 36% | 13% | 18% | 35% | 55% |
| The Qantas CEO Alan Joyce | 28% | 58% | 8% | 20% | 22% | 36% | 14% | 37% | 55% |
| Union leaders | 24% | 56% | 4% | 20% | 27% | 29% | 19% | 26% | 63% |
| Fair Work Australia | 55% | 21% | 13% | 42% | 15% | 6% | 23% | 62% | 25% |
Overall, respondents disapproved of the performance of all parties to the dispute except for Fair Work Australia, which was approved by 55%.
More than half the respondents disapproved of the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (58%), Qantas management (57%) and union leaders (56%).
Regular air travellers were more likely to approve of Qantas management and CEO. However, more than half disapproved of all parties except for Tony Abbott and the opposition (45% disapprove) and Fair Work Australia (25%).
ALP, Approval of Julia Gillard, ER, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, Labor, PM, Prime Minister
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| 19 Jul | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | 11 July | 15 Aug | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | |
| Total approve | 52% | 43% | 51% | 48% | 41% | 37% | 41% | 34% | 29% | 35% | 28% | 34% |
| Total disapprove | 30% | 40% | 36% | 41% | 46% | 50% | 48% | 54% | 62% | 55% | 64% | 59% |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 7% |
| Approve | 41% | 33% | 43% | 39% | 34% | 30% | 34% | 28% | 24% | 29% | 23% | 27% |
| Disapprove | 17% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 26% | 29% | 30% | 24% | 28% | 27% |
| Strongly disapprove | 13% | 16% | 12% | 16% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 25% | 32% | 31% | 36% | 32% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 17% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 13% | 9% | 11% | 8% | 7% |
After dropping last month Julia Gillard’s approval rating has improved this month. 34% (up 6%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 59% (down 5%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -36 to -25 over the last 5 weeks.
74% of Labor voters approve (up 8%) and 21% disapprove (down 5%).
By gender – men 36% approve/60% disapprove, women 32% approve/58% disapprove.
Better Prime Minister, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberals, PM, Prime Minister, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | 11 July | 15 Aug | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 42% | 43% | 41% | 37% | 38% | 36% | 38% | 82% | 4% | 85% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 35% | 36% | 39% | 36% | 40% | 39% | 2% | 82% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 26% | 24% | 23% | 16% | 14% | 11% |
38% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 39% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Julia Gillard of 3% on last month’s figures (from -4% to -1%).
Men prefer Tony Abbott 42%/38% and women favour Julia Gillard 38%/36%.
asylum seekers, ER, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, leaders, Malaysia solution, political leaders, tony abbott
Q. Regardless of how you vote, what words would you use to describe the positions taken by Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott on the issue of asylum seekers, including the recent attempt at legislating the deal with Malaysia?
| Julia Gillard | Tony Abbott | Difference | |
| Just playing politics | 46% | 47% | -1 |
| Stubborn | 26% | 20% | +6 |
| Unethical | 24% | 14% | +10 |
| Too soft | 21% | 7% | +14 |
| Populist | 13% | 14% | -1 |
| Cruel | 13% | 9% | +4 |
| Responsible | 11% | 16% | -5 |
| Fair | 10% | 15% | -5 |
| Too hard | 10% | 6% | +4 |
| Balanced | 7% | 11% | -4 |
| Principled | 6% | 11% | -5 |
| Visionary | 6% | 5% | +1 |
Nearly half the respondents believe that both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have been “just playing politics” over the issue of asylum seekers.
The main differences between the leaders positions on asylum seekers were that Julia Gillard was more likely to be considered “too soft” (21% to 7%) and “unethical” (24% to 14%). Julia Gillard was also a little more likely to be considered “stubborn” (26% to 20%).
Approval of opposition leader, approval of PM, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Polling, preferred PM, Prime Minister, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | 11 July | 15 Aug | 12 Sept | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 42% | 43% | 41% | 37% | 38% | 36% | 81% | 5% | 69% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 35% | 36% | 39% | 36% | 40% | 5% | 79% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 26% | 24% | 13% | 16% | 23% |
36% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 40% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Tony Abbott of 6% on last month’s figures (from -2% to +4%).
Men prefer Tony Abbott 43%/37% and women favour Tony Abbott 37%/36%.