Approval of opposition leader, approval of PM, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, Prime Minister, tony abbott
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| 18 Jan
2010 |
29 Mar | 5 Jul | 20 Sep | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | 14 June | |
| Total approve | 37% | 33% | 37% | 43% | 39% | 42% | 38% | 38% | 36% | 42% | 38% |
| Total disapprove | 37% | 50% | 47% | 37% | 39% | 37% | 46% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 48% |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 8% | 8% | 12% | 9% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 6% |
| Approve | 32% | 25% | 29% | 31% | 30% | 35% | 30% | 31% | 29% | 34% | 32% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 28% | 23% | 21% | 21% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 22% | 24% | 16% | 18% | 15% | 22% | 23% | 23% | 19% | 23% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 16% | 16% | 19% | 22% | 20% | 16% | 16% | 17% | 14% | 15% |
38% (down 4%) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 48% (up 4%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -2 to -10 over the last 4 weeks.
70% of Coalition voters approve and 20% disapprove.
By gender – men 44% approve/47% disapprove, women 32% approve/49% disapprove.
Essential Report, Greens, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, 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 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott
21 Jun 10 |
||
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 42% | 43% | 41% | 84% | 7% | 65% | 47% | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 35% | 36% | 5% | 73% | 11% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 11% | 20% | 24% | 23% |
41% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 36% prefer Tony Abbott – a net decrease for Julia Gillard of 3% on last month’s figures (from +8% to +5%).
Men are split 40%/40% and women favour Julia Gillard 41%/32%.
climate change, earth’s climate, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. Do you believe that there is fairly conclusive evidence that climate change is happening and caused by human activity or do you believe that the evidence is still not in and we may just be witnessing a normal fluctuation in the earth’s climate which happens from time to time?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | Nov 09 | Dec 10 | 30 May 11 | ||
| Climate change is happening and is caused by human activity | 50% | 64% | 34% | 83% | 45% | 54% | 60% | 49% | 38% | 53% | 45% | 52% | |
| We are just witnessing a normal fluctuation in the earth’s climate | 39% | 28% | 55% | 10% | 44% | 33% | 27% | 37% | 55% | 34% | 36% | 36% | |
| Don’t know | 12% | 9% | 11% | 6% | 12% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 8% | 13% | 19% | 12% |
50% agree that climate change is happening and is caused by human activity and 39% believe that we may just be witnessing a normal fluctuation in the earth’s climate. This is little changed since this question was last asked in May.
By age groups, those aged under 35 split 60%/27% and those aged 55+ split 38%/55%.
climate change, Climate Change action, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. How confident are you that climate change can be averted if we take action now?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Very confident | 13% | 16% | 11% | 18% |
| Somewhat confident | 48% | 52% | 45% | 45% |
| Not very confident | 30% | 27% | 32% | 30% |
| Not at all confident | 6% | 2% | 10% | 5% |
| Don’t know | 2% | 3% | 1% | 3% |
*Based on those who believe “climate change is happening”
Of those who believe climate change is happening, 61% are very or somewhat confident that climate change can be averted if we take action now. A majority of all voter groups are very/somewhat confident.
By age, 68% of aged under 35 are confident compared to 58% of those aged 55+.
Carbon Pricing, Carbon Tax, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, tax
Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s recent announcement to introduce a carbon pricing scheme from 1 July 2012, which will require industries to pay a tax based on the amount of carbon pollution they emit?
| 7 March | 14 March | 28 March | 18 April | 23 May | 30 May | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 35% | 38% | 34% | 39% | 41% | 38% | 38% | 60% | 19% | 68% |
| Total oppose | 48% | 49% | 51% | 49% | 44% | 48% | 49% | 28% | 72% | 18% |
| Strongly support | 9% | 12% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 14% | 13% | 24% | 3% | 35% |
| Support | 26% | 26% | 22% | 26% | 27% | 24% | 25% | 36% | 16% | 33% |
| Oppose | 19% | 17% | 19% | 15% | 15% | 19% | 19% | 17% | 20% | 10% |
| Strongly oppose | 29% | 32% | 32% | 34% | 29% | 29% | 30% | 11% | 52% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 13% | 15% | 12% | 15% | 15% | 13% | 12% | 9% | 13% |
38% support the Government’s proposed carbon pricing scheme and 49% oppose – no significant change since the question was asked in May. It is supported by 60% of Labor voters and 68% of Greens voters but opposed by 72% of coalition voters.
By age, those aged under 35 split 46% support/39% oppose, and those aged 55+ split 31% support/62% oppose.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Malaysia, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. The Government has announced a possible agreement with Malaysia on asylum seekers. Under these agreements, asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia will be sent to Malaysia for processing, and in return Australia will take a fixed number of refugees from Malaysia. How much have you heard about this proposal?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| A lot | 27% | 24% | 34% | 27% |
| Something | 31% | 38% | 29% | 30% |
| A little | 29% | 28% | 29% | 28% |
| Nothing | 9% | 8% | 6% | 14% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
58% said they had heard a lot or something about the Government’s possible agreement with Malaysia on asylum seekers. Awareness was similar across voter groups.
asylum seeker issue, asylum seekers, detention centres, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Malaysia, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Heard a lot | Heard something | Heard a little/ nothing | |
| Total support | 40% | 47% | 40% | 27% | 34% | 42% | 46% |
| Total oppose | 39% | 33% | 45% | 51% | 60% | 39% | 28% |
| Strongly support | 13% | 13% | 15% | 4% | 14% | 11% | 15% |
| Support | 27% | 34% | 25% | 23% | 20% | 31% | 31% |
| Oppose | 22% | 21% | 24% | 31% | 26% | 24% | 20% |
| Strongly oppose | 17% | 12% | 21% | 20% | 34% | 15% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 20% | 14% | 23% | 6% | 19% | 27% |
40% support the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia and 39% oppose.
Those who say they have heard more about it are more likely to oppose this proposal. Only 34% of those who have heard a lot about it support the proposal compared to 46% of those who have heard a little or nothing. There were not substantial differences by gender or age.
approach to asylum seekers, asylum seekers, detention centres, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, processing centre for asylum seekers
Q. If Australia sends asylum seekers to Malaysia, how important are the following issues?
| Very important | Somewhat important | Not very important | Not at all important | Don’t know | |
| There must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment | 58% | 21% | 9% | 9% | 4% |
| There must be safeguards against the development of mental health problems in detention | 41% | 32% | 13% | 9% | 5% |
| The plan should have approval from the United Nations | 37% | 29% | 14% | 15% | 6% |
| All countries involved should be signatories to the United Nations Refugee Convention | 41% | 27% | 13% | 12% | 8% |
| Children arriving in Australia on their own should not be sent to other countries | 36% | 25% | 14% | 12% | 12% |
All issues were considered important by a majority of respondents. The most important issue concerning the proposal to send asylum seekers to Malaysia was that “there must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment” – 58% said this was very important.
There were major differences by gender – in particular on the issues that “there must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment” (very important – men 49%, women 66%) and “There must be safeguards against the development of mental health problems in detention” (very important – men 33%, women 49%)