02 April 2012, 020412, Comparison of Leaders, Julia Gillard, Labor, leader attributes, leaders, Liberal, political leaders, Polling, polls, tony abbott
|
Julia Gillard |
Tony Abbott |
Difference |
|
| Intelligent |
61% |
56% |
+5% |
| Hard-working |
65% |
68% |
-3% |
| A capable leader |
38% |
41% |
-3% |
| Arrogant |
53% |
61% |
-8% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people |
65% |
54% |
+11% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia |
41% |
49% |
-8% |
| Visionary |
25% |
26% |
-1% |
| Superficial |
54% |
49% |
+5% |
| Good in a crisis |
36% |
36% |
– |
| Narrow-minded |
53% |
54% |
-1% |
| More honest than most politicians |
26% |
30% |
-4% |
| Trustworthy |
25% |
32% |
-7% |
Julia Gillard rates higher than Tony Abbott on out of touch with ordinary people (+11%), intelligent (+5%) and superficial (+5%).
She rates lower than Tony Abbott on arrogant (-8%), understands the problems facing Australia (-8%) and trustworthy (-7%).
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%).
2PP, approval, Essential Report, federal politics, Julia Gillard, Labor, leader attributes, leaders, Liberal, Polling, polls, Prime Minister, tony abbott
| Julia Gillard | Tony Abbott | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 73% | 61% | +12% |
| Hard-working | 75% | 75% | – |
| A capable leader | 42% | 45% | -3% |
| Arrogant | 48% | 60% | -12% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 60% | 57% | +3% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 44% | 48% | -4% |
| Visionary | 26% | 27% | -1% |
| Superficial | 52% | 49% | +3% |
| Good in a crisis | 41% | 40% | +1% |
| Narrow-minded | 46% | 54% | -8% |
| More honest than most politicians | 29% | 32% | -3% |
| Trustworthy | 30% | 32% | -2% |
Julia Gillard rates substantially higher than Tony Abbott as intelligent (+12%) and lower on the negative attributes of arrogant (-12%) and narrow-minded (-8%). There were only minor differences on the other attributes.
Abbott, Gillard, leaders, leadership, political leadership
Q. Which leader – Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott – would you say has shown more leadership abilities during the period since the election?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 47% | 92% | 10% | 73% |
| Tony Abbott | 35% | 2% | 75% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 6% | 15% | 23% |
47% think Julia Gillard has shown more leadership abilities during the period since the election and 35% favour Tony Abbott.
By gender – men favour Julia Gillard 47%/38%, women 48%/31%. 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 »