Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott?
Gillard/ Abbott 11 Jun 13 |
|
Rudd/ Abbott 15 Jul
|
Rudd/ Abbott 13 Aug
|
Rudd/ Abbott 26 Aug |
|
Rudd/ Abbott 2 Sep Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Julia Gillard/Kevin Rudd |
39% |
50% |
47% |
43% |
44% |
91% |
5% |
74% |
||
Tony Abbott |
40% |
35% |
35% |
34% |
38% |
1% |
80% |
6% |
||
Don’t know |
21% |
15% |
18% |
23% |
18% |
8% |
16% |
20% |
44% (up 1%) believe Kevin Rudd would make the better Prime Minister and 38% (up 4%) prefer Tony Abbott.
Men prefer Kevin Rudd 44%/40% and women prefer Kevin Rudd 44%/37%.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott?
Gillard/ Abbott 11 Jun 13 |
|
Rudd/ Abbott 15 Jul 13
|
Rudd/ Abbott 13 Aug 13 Total |
|
Rudd/ Abbott 26 Aug 13 Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Julia Gillard/Kevin Rudd |
39% |
50% |
47% |
43% |
89% |
4% |
63% |
||
Tony Abbott |
40% |
35% |
35% |
34% |
1% |
77% |
6% |
||
Don’t know |
21% |
15% |
18% |
23% |
10% |
19% |
31% |
43% (down 4%) believe Kevin Rudd would make the better Prime Minister and 34% (down 1%) prefer Tony Abbott.
Men prefer Kevin Rudd 41%/38% and women prefer Kevin Rudd 45%/30%.
Approval of Kevin Rudd
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister?
Julia Gillard 11 Jun 13 |
|
Kevin Rudd 15 Jul |
|
Kevin Rudd 13 Aug |
|
Total approve |
37% |
50% |
45% |
||
Total disapprove |
54% |
35% |
43% |
||
Strongly approve |
10% |
18% |
11% |
||
Approve |
27% |
32% |
34% |
||
Disapprove |
21% |
15% |
21% |
||
Strongly disapprove |
33% |
20% |
22% |
||
Don’t know |
9% |
16% |
12% |
Kevin Rudd’s approval ratings have fallen since last measured 4 weeks ago. 45% (down 5%) approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister and 43% (up 8%) disapprove – a change in net rating from +15 to +2.
88% of Labor voters approve (up 3%) and 6% disapprove (up 2%).
By gender – men 49% approve/43% disapprove, women 42% approve/43% disapprove. In net terms this represents a shift with men from +19 to +6 and with women from +10 to -1.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott?
Gillard/ Abbott 11 Jun 13 |
|
Rudd/ Abbott 15 Jul 13
|
|
Rudd/ Abbott 13 Aug 13 Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Julia Gillard/Kevin Rudd |
39% |
50% |
47% |
92% |
7% |
68% |
||
Tony Abbott |
40% |
35% |
35% |
3% |
76% |
7% |
||
Don’t know |
21% |
15% |
18% |
5% |
17% |
25% |
47% (down 3%) believe Kevin Rudd would make the better Prime Minister and 35% (no change) prefer Tony Abbott.
Men prefer Kevin Rudd 47%/39% and women prefer Kevin Rudd 47%/30%.
Approach to handling asylum seekers
Q. The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Opposition leader Tony Abbott have both recently made statements about the handling of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat.
Do you think Kevin Rudd’s approach to handling asylum seekers is too harsh, too soft or about right?
Do you think Tony Abbott’s approach to handling asylum seekers is too harsh, too soft or about right?
Kevin Rudd |
|
Tony Abbott |
|||||||
Total
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Total
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Too harsh |
20% |
19% |
18% |
49% |
21% |
38% |
5% |
42% |
|
Too soft |
24% |
12% |
35% |
13% |
20% |
21% |
16% |
21% |
|
About right |
40% |
53% |
33% |
25% |
31% |
11% |
61% |
7% |
|
Don’t know |
16% |
16% |
14% |
13% |
27% |
31% |
18% |
30% |
40% of respondents think Kevin Rudd’s approach to handling asylum seekers is about right and 31% think Tony Abbott’s approach is about right. Views are similar for both approaches in terms of whether they are too soft or too harsh – about one in five selected each option.
Kevin Rudd’s approach was more favoured by Labor voters (53%), aged 45-64 (45%) and tradespeople (51%). Tony Abbott’s approach was more favoured by Liberal/National voters (61%), men (37%), aged 65+ (46%) and tradespeople (40%).
Approval of asylum seeker policy
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the announcement by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, that all asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat will be sent to New Guinea for processing and none will be resettled in Australia?
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Total approve |
61% |
75% |
58% |
32% |
|
Total disapprove |
28% |
16% |
32% |
62% |
|
Strongly approve |
30% |
45% |
24% |
7% |
|
Approve |
31% |
30% |
34% |
25% |
|
Disapprove |
14% |
10% |
14% |
31% |
|
Strongly disapprove |
14% |
6% |
18% |
31% |
|
Don’t know |
11% |
9% |
10% |
7% |
61% approve of the announcement that all asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat will be sent to New Guinea for processing and none will be resettled in Australia and 28% disapprove.
75% of Labor voters and 58% of Liberal/National voters approve but 62% of Greens voters disapprove. A majority of all demographic groups approved – those most likely to disapprove were respondents with university degrees (54% approve/35% disapprove).
Of those who think the asylum seeker issue is one of or the most important election issue, 71% approve and 25% disapprove.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott?
Rudd/ |
Gillard/ Abbott |
Gillard/ Abbott |
|
Rudd/ Abbott |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Julia Gillard/Kevin Rudd |
47% |
53% |
39% |
50% |
94% |
10% |
84% |
|
Tony Abbott |
30% |
26% |
40% |
35% |
2% |
72% |
6% |
|
Don’t know |
23% |
21% |
21% |
15% |
3% |
18% |
10% |
50% believe Kevin Rudd would make the better Prime Minister and 35% prefer Tony Abbott.
Men prefer Kevin Rudd 51%/36% and women prefer Kevin Rudd 49%/33%.
Election of Labor Party leader
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of Kevin Rudd’s proposal for the leader of the Labor Party to be elected by both the Members of Parliament and the party members?
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Total approve |
56% |
73% |
45% |
64% |
|
Total disapprove |
19% |
9% |
30% |
11% |
|
Strongly approve |
18% |
33% |
7% |
29% |
|
Approve |
38% |
40% |
38% |
35% |
|
Disapprove |
11% |
8% |
14% |
7% |
|
Strongly disapprove |
8% |
1% |
16% |
4% |
|
Don’t know |
25% |
18% |
25% |
25% |
56% approve of Kevin Rudd’s proposal for election of the party leader and 19% disapprove. 73% of Labor voters approve.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
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Two Party Preferred:
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Top Federal Government priorities for 2021
- Uptake of a Covid-19 vaccine
- Perceptions of change in the standard of living for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Changing views towards Australia Day
- Support towards a separate national day
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