Approval of Julia Gillard
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| Kevin Rudd | Julia Gillard | |||||||
| 30 Mar 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 14 Dec 09 | 29 Mar 10 | 31 May 10 | 5 Jul 10 | 19 Jul 10 | |
| Total approve | 71% | 62% | 66% | 57% | 53% | 41% | 48% | 52% |
| Total disapprove | 21% | 29% | 23% | 32% | 36% | 47% | 27% | 30% |
| Strongly approve | 21% | 14% | 15% | 10% | 12% | 7% | 14% | 11% |
| Approve | 50% | 48% | 51% | 47% | 41% | 34% | 34% | 41% |
| Disapprove | 14% | 18% | 17% | 20% | 22% | 25% | 13% | 17% |
| Strongly disapprove | 7% | 9% | 6% | 12% | 14% | 22% | 14% | 13% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 12% | 12% | 26% | 18% |
52% approve Julia Gillard’s performance as Prime Minister and 30% disapprove. Since this question was asked 2 weeks ago, approval has increased by 4% and disapproval by 3% – “don’t know” has dropped from 26% to 18%. 89% of Labor voters approve and only 2% disapprove. Among Liberal/National voters, 25% approve and 64% disapprove.
There were substantial differences by gender – men 50% approve/36% disapprove and women 54% approve/25% disapprove.
Important Issues
Q. Which are the three most important issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election?
| First | Second | Third | Total | Total
10 May 10 |
Difference | |
| Management of the economy | 38% | 18% | 7% | 63% | 62% | +1% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 16% | 20% | 19% | 55% | 50% | +5% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 7% | 8% | 9% | 24% | 29% | -5% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 4% | 11% | 9% | 24% | 19% | +5% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 4% | 6% | 8% | 18% | 22% | -4% |
| Protecting the environment | 5% | 5% | 5% | 15% | 13% | +2% |
| Political leadership | 6% | 3% | 4% | 13% | 12% | +1% |
| Housing affordability | 4% | 4% | 5% | 13% | 17% | -4% |
| Addressing climate change | 4% | 4% | 4% | 12% | 12% | – |
| Controlling interest rates | 3% | 5% | 4% | 12% | 16% | -4% |
| Managing population growth | 1% | 4% | 7% | 12% | 14% | -2% |
| Treatment of asylum seekers | 4% | 3% | 4% | 11% | * | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 2% | 4% | 5% | 11% | 9% | +2% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 1% | 2% | 5% | 8% | 7% | +1% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 1% | 1% | 4% | 6% | 7% | -1% |
*Not asked in May 2010 poll
The most important election issues were management of the economy, the quality of the health system, jobs and local industry and a quality education for all children.
Since this issue was last polled in May, health and education have increased in importance (both +5%) and Australian jobs and protection of local industry declined 5%. Comments »
Party best at Handling Issues
Q. And which party would you trust most to handle the following issues?
| Labor | Liberal | Greens | Don’t know | |
| A fair industrial relations system | 45% | 24% | 5% | 26% |
| Ensuring a quality education for all children | 41% | 25% | 4% | 29% |
| Australian jobs and protection of local industries | 42% | 28% | 3% | 27% |
| Ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system | 38% | 27% | 4% | 31% |
| Ensuring a fair taxation system | 36% | 28% | 4% | 32% |
| Housing affordability | 30% | 24% | 4% | 41% |
| Political leadership | 33% | 30% | 5% | 33% |
| Ensuring a quality water supply | 23% | 23% | 22% | 32% |
| Managing population growth | 24% | 27% | 9% | 40% |
| Security and the war on terrorism | 25% | 30% | 3% | 42% |
| Management of the economy | 32% | 38% | 3% | 27% |
| Treatment of asylum seekers | 23% | 29% | 11% | 37% |
| Controlling interest rates | 28% | 35% | 2% | 35% |
| Addressing climate change | 18% | 16% | 36% | 29% |
| Protecting the environment | 17% | 13% | 47% | 23% |
Labor have a substantial lead over the Liberal Party as the best party to handle a fair industrial relations system (+21%), quality education for all (+16%), Australian jobs and protection of industries (+14%) and ensuring the quality of Australia’s health system (+11%).
The Liberal Party’s main strengths were controlling interest rates (+7%), treatment of asylum seekers (+6%) and management of the economy (+6%).
The Greens were thought to be the best party for protecting the environment (47%) and addressing climate change (36%). Comments »
Approval of Tony Abbott
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Malcolm Turnbull | Tony Abbott | ||||||||
| 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 22 Feb 10 | 29 Mar 10 | 3 May 10 | 31 May 10 | 28 Jun 10 | 5 Jul 10 | |
| Total approve | 25% | 34% | 37% | 45% | 33% | 39% | 35% | 40% | 37% |
| Total disapprove | 55% | 36% | 37% | 36% | 50% | 43% | 50% | 39% | 47% |
| Strongly approve | 2% | 7% | 5% | 12% | 8% | 5% | 5% | 9% | 8% |
| Approve | 23% | 27% | 32% | 33% | 25% | 34% | 30% | 31% | 29% |
| Disapprove | 33% | 18% | 20% | 20% | 28% | 24% | 28% | 20% | 23% |
| Strongly disapprove | 22% | 18% | 17% | 16% | 22% | 19% | 22% | 19% | 24% |
| Don’t know | 19% | 31% | 26% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 16% | 20% | 16% |
Tony Abbott’s net rating as Opposition Leader have dropped back into negative territory over the last week. 37% approve (down 3%) and 47% disapprove (up 8%).
81% of Liberal/National voters approve and 12% disapprove. Labor voters split 15% approve/75% disapprove.
Men split 41% approve/45% disapprove and women 34% approve/48% disapprove. Comments »
Comparison of Leader Attributes
| Julia Gillard | Tony Abbott | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 87% | 70% | +17 |
| Hard-working | 89% | 76% | +13 |
| A capable leader | 72% | 47% | +25 |
| Demanding | 58% | 53% | +5 |
| Arrogant | 37% | 59% | -22 |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 35% | 57% | -22 |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 68% | 50% | +18 |
| Visionary | 48% | 32% | +16 |
| Superficial | 35% | 45% | -10 |
| Good in a crisis | 61% | 40% | +21 |
| Narrow-minded | 28% | 56% | -28 |
| Down to earth | 68% | 47% | +21 |
| Too inflexible | 26% | 45% | -19 |
| Complacent | 27% | 34% | +13 |
| More honest than most politicians | 45% | 33% | +12 |
| Trustworthy | 49% | 33% | +16 |
Julia Gillard is rated substantially higher than Tony Abbott on all positive attributes and lower on negative attributes.
The largest differences are in terms of narrow-minded (-28%), a capable leader (+25%) and arrogant (-22%).
Changing Leaders – Tony Abbott
Q. Do you think Tony Abbott is the best person to lead the Liberal Party to the next election or would the Liberal Party have a better chance of winning the next election if they changed leaders?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| Tony Abbott is the best person to lead the Liberal Party to the next election | 29% | 14% | 62% |
| The Liberal Party would have a better chance of winning the next election if they changed leaders | 47% | 65% | 25% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 21% | 13% |
47% of respondents thought the Liberal Party would have a better chance of winning the next election if they changed leader – 29% thought Tony Abbott was the best person to be leader.
Liberal/National voters supported Tony Abbott as leader by 62% to 25%. 79% of Greens voters and 49% of other/independent voters thought the Liberal Party should change their leader. Men (34%) and those aged 65+ (34%) were the strongest supporters of Tony Abbott remaining as leader. Comments »
Best Leader – Rudd/Gillard
Q7. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | 15 Feb 10 | ||
| Kevin Rudd | 36% | 56% | 26% | 45% | |
| Julia Gillard | 33% | 30% | 36% | 26% | |
| Don’t know | 31% | 14% | 38% | 29% |
Respondents were fairly evenly split over whether Kevin Rudd (36%) or Julia Gillard (33%) would make the better Prime Minister. This is a substantial change since this question was last asked in February – Julia Gillard up 7% and Kevin Rudd down 9%.
Labor voters preferred Kevin Rudd (56% to 30%) and Liberal voters preferred Julia Gillard (36% to 26%). Greens voters preferred Julia Gillard by 62% to 18%.
Men show greater support for Kevin Rudd (40%/33%) whereas women were evenly divided (32%/34%). Comments »
Best Leadership Team
Q. Thinking about the Government Ministers and the Opposition Shadow Ministers in Federal Parliament, who has the best leadership team – Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party or Tony Abbott and the Coalition?
| Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party | 47% |
| Tony Abbott and the Coalition | 31% |
| Don’t know | 23% |
47% think that Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party have the best leadership team and 31% prefer Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party team.
95% of Labor voters think the Labor team is better and 75% of Liberal/National voters prefer the Liberal team. Greens voters prefer the Labor team over the Liberal team (by 55% to 13%), as do other party and independent voters (45% to 24%).
People aged under 35 prefer the Labor team 47% to 18%. Comments »
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 14 May 2019
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