EMC, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, opposition, Opposition leader, Polling, polls, tony abbott
Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view about the performance of Tony Abbott as Opposition leader?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Tony Abbott is performing the role of Opposition leader well and is keeping the Government accountable | 41% | 11% | 79% | 7% |
| Tony Abbott is just opposing everything and is obstructing the work of the Government | 43% | 78% | 12% | 82% |
| Don’t know | 16% | 11% | 9% | 12% |
41% think that Tony Abbott is performing the role of Opposition leader well and is keeping the Government accountable and 43% think he is just opposing everything and is obstructing the work of the Government.
Views are strongly correlated with voting intention – 79% of Coalition voters think he is performing the role of Opposition leader well, while 78% of Labor voters and 82% of Greens voters think he is just opposing everything.
EMC, ER, Essential Report, Federal Government, Greens, Independents, Labor, Liberal, Minority Government, Parliament, Polling, polls, power in Parliament
Q. Do you think the independents and Greens holding the balance of power in Parliament has been good or bad for Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total good | 27% | 33% | 12% | 83% |
| Total bad | 41% | 25% | 66% | 2% |
| Very good | 7% | 8% | 1% | 34% |
| Good | 20% | 25% | 11% | 49% |
| Neither good nor bad | 33% | 41% | 22% | 15% |
| Bad | 22% | 18% | 29% | 2% |
| Very bad | 19% | 7% | 37% | – |
27% think that the independents and Greens holding the balance of power in Parliament has been good for Australia and 41% think it has been bad.
Greens voters overwhelmingly think it has been good (83%) while two-thirds of Coalition voters think it has been bad. Labor voters are somewhat split – 33% good/25% bad/41% neither. Older respondents were more likely to think it was bad – those aged under 35 split 32% good/29% bad while those aged 55+ split 21% good/52% bad.
Australia, Australian society, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Islam, Labor, Liberal, multiculturalism, Muslim, Muslims, Polling, polls, Religion, religious concern, religious issues, voting
Q. In your view, should the Australian government exclude Muslims from our migrant intake?
(Question commissioned by Network Ten)
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 55+ | |
| Yes | 25% | 21% | 33% | 8% | 26% | 25% | 19% | 26% | 31% |
| No | 55% | 62% | 49% | 83% | 55% | 54% | 56% | 57% | 49% |
| Don’t know/Refused | 20% | 17% | 18% | 8% | 19% | 21% | 25% | 17% | 20% |
25% of respondents believed that the Australian government should exclude Muslims from our migrant intake and 55% disagreed. Those most likely to think Muslims should be excluded from our migration intake were Liberal/National voters (33%) and people aged 55+ (31%).
Download the Network Ten Essential Question of the Week (1.1 MB pdf)
2PP, Election, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Polling, polls, two party preferred, Voting intention
Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?
Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?
sample size =1,964
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 42% | 41% | 40% | 42% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6 | 45% | 44% | 43% | 45% |
| Labor | 38.0 | 37% | 40% | 39% | 37% |
| Greens | 11.8 | 11% | 10% | 11% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6 | 7% | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 51% | 50% | 49% | 52% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 49% | 50% | 51% | 48% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived the first preference/leaning to voting questions. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results. The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2010 election.
Australia, Australian society, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, multiculturalism, Polling, polls, voting
Q. Overall, has multiculturalism (that is, the acceptance of people from different countries, cultures and religions) made a positive or negative contribution to Australian society?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total positive | 57% | 65% | 54% | 75% |
| Total negative | 29% | 24% | 36% | 12% |
| Very positive | 15% | 20% | 10% | 34% |
| Positive | 42% | 45% | 44% | 41% |
| Negative | 18% | 16% | 21% | 9% |
| Very negative | 11% | 8% | 15% | 9% |
| Made no difference | 6% | 6% | 5% | 3% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
57% believe that multiculturalism has made a positive contribution to Australian society and 29% believe the contribution has been negative. A majority of all party voter groups believe the contribution has been positive.
Older respondents tend to have a more negative view – those aged 55+ were split 48% positive/45% negative while those aged under 35 were 65% positive and 18% negative.
EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, immigration, Immigration and Religion, Labor, Liberal, migrate, Polling, polls, Religion, Religion Issues
Q. When a family applies to migrate to Australia, should it be possible for them to be rejected purely on the basis of their religion?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Should be rejected on basis of religion | 19% | 17% | 24% | 10% |
| Should not be rejected on basis of religion | 65% | 67% | 63% | 85% |
| Don’t know | 15% | 16% | 13% | 5% |
65% believed that when a family applies to migrate to Australia, they should not be rejected purely on the basis of their religion and 19% think it should be possible to reject purely based on religion. There were no substantial differences across age and gender groups.
Liberal voters were a little more supportive of being able to reject based on religion (24%) and Greens voters were strongly opposed (85%).
Concern about Muslims, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Islam, Labor, Liberal, Muslim, Muslims, Polling, polls, Religion, Religion Issues, religious concern
Q. Are you concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total concerned | 57% | 50% | 69% | 32% |
| Total not concerned | 38% | 46% | 28% | 68% |
| Very Concerned | 28% | 21% | 37% | 12% |
| Somewhat concerned | 29% | 29% | 32% | 20% |
| Not very concerned | 21% | 23% | 19% | 27% |
| Not at all concerned | 17% | 23% | 9% | 41% |
| Don’t know/Refused | 5% | 4% | 2% | – |
57% were very or somewhat concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia while 38% were not very or not at all concerned. Concern is higher among Liberal/National voters (69%) and lower among Greens voters (32%). 72% of people aged 55+ say they are concerned.
Level of concern is related to perceptions of the number of Muslim people in Australia. The table below shows that those who think there are higher numbers of Muslims in Australia are much more likely to be concerned.
| Estimated % Muslims in Australia | |||||
| Total | 1-2% | 3-5% | 6-10% | Over 10% | |
| Total concerned | 57% | 44% | 52% | 68% | 79% |
| Total not concerned | 38% | 54% | 46% | 31% | 19% |
Buddhism, Christianity, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Labor, Liberal, Muslim, Polling, polls, Religion, Religion Issues
Q. Which of the following religions do you think has grown the fastest in Australia during the 10 years between 1996 and 2006, when the last national census was taken?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Christianity (including Catholic, Uniting Church, Anglican, etc) | 8% | 7% | 11% | 7% |
| Hinduism | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Islam (Muslim) | 57% | 58% | 64% | 50% |
| Buddhism | 5% | 3% | 4% | 11% |
| Judaism (Jewish) | * | 1% | – | – |
| Don’t know/Refuse | 27% | 29% | 19% | 27% |
57% believe that Islam is the fastest growing religion in Australia. This perception is broadly similar across all age/gender groups – although a little higher for Liberal/National voters (64%) and those aged 55+ (65%).