Abbott, Bob Brown, Brown, Gillard, Julia Gillard, kevin rudd, malcolm turnbull, rudd, tony abbott, Turnbull
Q. Has it been a good or bad year for each of the following politicians?
| Total good | Total bad | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | |
| Julia Gillard | 49% | 25% | 14% | 35% | 22% | 17% | 8% | 4% |
| Bob Brown | 38% | 21% | 9% | 29% | 28% | 11% | 10% | 13% |
| Tony Abbott | 30% | 33% | 4% | 26% | 32% | 25% | 8% | 6% |
| Malcolm Turnbull | 10% | 43% | 1% | 9% | 35% | 30% | 13% | 11% |
| Kevin Rudd | 10% | 70% | 2% | 8% | 15% | 36% | 34% | 5% |
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |||||
| Total good | Total bad | Total good | Total bad | Total good | Total bad | Total good | Total bad | |
| Julia Gillard | 49% | 25% | 69% | 8% | 36% | 43% | 57% | 17% |
| Bob Brown | 38% | 21% | 40% | 17% | 35% | 31% | 68% | 6% |
| Tony Abbott | 30% | 33% | 19% | 45% | 44% | 21% | 17% | 54% |
| Malcolm Turnbull | 10% | 43% | 6% | 50% | 15% | 42% | 6% | 50% |
| Kevin Rudd | 10% | 70% | 14% | 64% | 8% | 81% | 11% | 73% |
Overall, Julia Gillard (49% good/25% bad) and Bob Brown (38%/21%) are thought to have had a good year. Respondents were divided on whether Tony Abbott has had a good year (30%/33%).
A majority of their own voters thought Julia Gillard (69%) and Bob Brown (68%) have had a good year but only 44% of Liberal/National voters think Tony Abbott has had a good year. There is a substantial gender difference on the assessment of Tony Abbott – men split 37% good/30% bad and women 23% good/36% bad. Comments »
Gillard, hashtags, kevin rudd, Social Media, spill, stuart gillies
7pm hungry.
I, like many other ‘Gen Y-can’t-I-do-everything-on-my-iPhone?’, first heard about the political events of last week while browsing my iphone for twitter, news feeds and facebook status updates, in front of the slower to react television on Wednesday night.
And feed we did.
As soon as the door shut on the then Prime Minister’s office, social networks were abuzz with the thought of a coup, thousands of tweeps all across Australia were glued to their 140 character evening dinner, with each and all sharing their pointed opinion on the ensuing #spill.
24hr news was being fed from all of this online action, with sky news reporters constantly taking advice and proclaiming news from their iphone instant news features, SMS and Twitter.
Pass the buttered corn. Comments »
brendan nelson, john howard, kevin rudd, kim beazley, leaders, malcolm turnbull, mark latham, paul keating, simon crean, tony abbott
Q. From the following list of current and recent leaders of the Liberal/Labor Party – rate each in terms of whether you think they were a good or poor leader of their party.
| Total good | Total poor | Very good | Good | Average | Poor | Very poor | Don’t know | |
| Tony Abbott | 30% | 34% | 7% | 23% | 29% | 14% | 20% | 7% |
| Malcolm Turnbull | 28% | 33% | 6% | 22% | 32% | 20% | 13% | 8% |
| Brendan Nelson | 13% | 44% | 2% | 11% | 33% | 28% | 16% | 11% |
| John Howard | 51% | 26% | 27% | 24% | 18% | 11% | 15% | 5% |
| Kevin Rudd | 38% | 34% | 10% | 28% | 23% | 15% | 19% | 4% |
| Kim Beazley | 29% | 29% | 7% | 22% | 36% | 17% | 12% | 6% |
| Mark Latham | 7% | 62% | 2% | 5% | 23% | 26% | 36% | 8% |
| Simon Crean | 9% | 47% | 2% | 7% | 32% | 29% | 18% | 12% |
| Paul Keating | 40% | 26% | 14% | 26% | 27% | 12% | 14% | 8% |
Overall, John Howard (51% good/26% poor) was considered the best Liberal Party leader of recent times and Paul Keating (40%/26%) the best Labor leader.
However the current leaders – Kevin Rudd (38% good/34% poor) and Tony Abbott (30%/34%) – were both considered better than the leaders they succeeded.
Among Liberal/National voters Tony Abbott was rated good by 63%, compared to John Howard at 86% and Malcolm Turnbull at 37%.
Among Labor voters Kevin Rudd was rated good by 78%, compared to Paul Keating at 58% and Kim Beazley at 40%. Comments »
ageing population, economy, kevin rudd, productivity, rudd
Q. The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently said that over the next decade Australia must build the best educated, best skilled and best trained workforce in the world to increase productivity and counter the effects of an ageing population. Do you agree or disagree?
| % | |
| Total agree | 82% |
| Total disagree | 8% |
| Strong agree | 34% |
| Agree | 48% |
| Disagree | 6% |
| Strongly disagree | 2% |
| Don’t know | 10% |
The majority of those surveyed agree with Kevin Rudd’s recent comments that over the next decade Australia must build the best educated, best skilled and best trained workforce in the world to increase productivity and counter the effects of an ageing population (82%), 8% disagree with the comments and 10% don’t know.
Results were consistent amongst most demographic groups. However, Labor voters were more likely to strongly agree with Rudd’s statements (46%). Comments »
approval, approval of PM, kevin rudd, rudd
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister?
| 12 Jan 09 | 9 Feb 09 | 30 Mar 09 | 18 May 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 10 Aug 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 9 Nov 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | 18 Jan 10 | |
| Strongly approve | 14% | 17% | 21% | 14% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 14% | 9% | 10% | 11% |
| Approve | 52% | 50% | 50% | 48% | 48% | 47% | 51% | 47% | 47% | 47% | 44% |
| Disapprove | 16% | 15% | 14% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 20% | 20% | 19% |
| Strongly disapprove | 6% | 8% | 7% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 6% | 13% | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 8% | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| Total approve | 66% | 67% | 71% | 62% | 62% | 60% | 66% | 61% | 56% | 57% | 55% |
| Total disapprove | 22% | 23% | 21% | 29% | 29% | 27% | 23% | 32% | 35% | 32% | 33% |
55% of people surveyed approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister, 33% disapprove. His approval rating has seen a slight decrease since we last asked this question in December (-2%) and his disapproval rating has increased by one percent. Rudd’s approval rating is the lowest it has been over the year that we have been tracking this question.
Perception of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to approve of the job he is doing (91%), while Coalition voters were more likely to disapprove (74%). 20% of Coalition voters and 73% of Green voters approve of the job Rudd is doing as Prime Minister. Comments »
approval, approval of PM, kevin rudd, Labor, Prime Minister, rudd
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister?
| 12 Jan 09 | 9 Feb 09 | 30 Mar 09 | 18 May 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 10 Aug 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 9 Nov 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | |
| Strongly approve | 14% | 17% | 21% | 14% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 14% | 9% | 10% |
| Approve | 52% | 50% | 50% | 48% | 48% | 47% | 51% | 47% | 47% | 47% |
| Disapprove | 16% | 15% | 14% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 20% | 20% |
| Strongly disapprove | 6% | 8% | 7% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 6% | 13% | 15% | 12% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 8% | 10% | 10% |
| Total approve | 66% | 67% | 71% | 62% | 62% | 60% | 66% | 61% | 56% | 57% |
| Total disapprove | 22% | 23% | 21% | 29% | 29% | 27% | 23% | 32% | 35% | 32% |
Kevin Rudd’s approval rating has increased slightly since we last asked this question (+1%) and his disapproval rating has decreased slightly (-3%).
Opinion followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to approve (92%) while Coalition voters were more likely to disapprove (74%). 18% of Coalition voters approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister.
kevin rudd, Labor, opinion of pm, opinion on pm, rudd
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd?
| 29 June 09 | 7 Dec 09 | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 84% | 82% | -2% |
| Hard-working | 83% | 77% | -6% |
| A capable leader | 72% | 69% | -3% |
| Demanding | 67% | 60% | -7% |
| Arrogant | 46% | 49% | +3% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 41% | 45% | +4% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 67% | 59% | -8% |
| Visionary | 49% | 48% | -1% |
| Superficial | 40% | 41% | +1% |
| Good in a crisis | 60% | 58% | -2% |
| Narrow-minded | 32% | 36% | +4% |
| Down to earth | 56% | 55% | -1% |
| Too inflexible | 32% | 38% | +6% |
| Complacent | 28% | 38% | +10% |
| More honest than most politicians | 47% | 49% | +2% |
| Trustworthy | * | 51% | * |
*Not asked in June 2009
Most people consider Rudd intelligent (82%), hard-working (77%), a capable leader (69%) and demanding (60%).
Since we last asked this question in June 2009, Rudd has lost points on qualities such as understanding the problems facing Australia (-8%), demanding (-7%) and hard-working (-6%). Rudd has gained points in terms of being complacent (+10%), too inflexible (+6%), out of touch with ordinary people (+4%) and narrow-minded (+4%).
Abbott, Industrial Relations, kevin rudd, rudd, tony abbott, WorkChoices
Q. The new Liberal leader Tony Abbott says that the Rudd Government went too far with their industrial relations laws when they got rid of the Howard Government’s WorkChoices laws. Do you agree or disagree?
| % | |
| Total agree | 37% |
| Total disagree | 45% |
| Strongly agree | 13% |
| Agree | 24% |
| Disagree | 22% |
| Strongly disagree | 23% |
| Don’t know | 18% |
45% of people disagree with Tony Abbott’s statement that the Rudd Government went too far with their industrial relations laws when they got rid of the Howard Government’s WorkChoices. 37% agree with Abbott’s statement that the Rudd Government has gone too far with industrial relations reform and 18% don’t know.
Results followed party lines – 76% of Coalition voters agree and 74% of Labor voters disagree with Abbott’s statements regarding the Rudd Government’s industrial relations reforms. Green voters were more likely to disagree with Abbott (62%).
Males were more likely than females to agree with Abbott’s statement (41% v 33%). People aged 55 years and over were also more likely to agree with Abbott (47%).