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  • Feb, 2011

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    Muslims in Australia

    Q. What percentage of Australian residents do you think are Muslim?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    1% 6% 6% 7% 8%
    2% 11% 10% 14% 9%
    3-5% 26% 26% 25% 37%
    6-10% 20% 19% 22% 18%
    More than 10% 19% 20% 19% 17%
    Don’t know 18% 20% 13% 11%

    17% think that Muslims make up 1-2% of Australia’s population, 26% think they make up 3-5% and 39% think it is over 5%. The actual figure is 1.7% – meaning 65% have over-estimated the number of Muslims in Australia.

    There were only minor differences between age, gender and voter groups.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Concern about Muslims (post information)

    Q. The 2006 Census figures show that in fact the fastest growing religions in Australia are Hinduism, Buddhism and then Islam.   Presently, only 1.71% of the Australian population identifies as Muslim.  In light of this information, how concerned are you about the number of Muslim people in Australia?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total concerned 50% 43% 62% 22%
    Total not concerned 45% 54% 35% 76%
    Very Concerned 22% 18% 29% 11%
    Somewhat concerned 28% 25% 33% 11%
    Not very concerned 26% 27% 24% 32%
    Not at all concerned 19% 27% 11% 44%
    Don’t know 5% 4% 4% 1%

    After being given some information about the number of Muslims in Australia, 50% said they were still very/somewhat concerned and 45% said they were not very or not at all concerned. This represents a 7% fall in level of concern from the question asked before this information was given to respondents.

    All demographic and voter groups showed a similar fall in level of concern.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Politicians Raising Race/Religion Issues

    Q. Do you think some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes or do you think these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes 61% 66% 55% 80%
    These politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future 27% 21% 37% 14%
    Don’t know 12% 12% 7% 5%

    61% believed that some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes and 27% thought these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future.

    Those most likely to think these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future were Liberal/National voters (37%) – and among people aged 55+, 34% thought these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future and 58% thought they use race and religion for political purposes.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Federal politics – 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 = 1,913

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 42% 43% 41% 40%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6 45% 46% 44% 43%
    Labor 38.0 37% 38% 40% 39%
    Greens 11.8 11% 10% 10% 11%
    Other/Independent 6.6 7% 7% 6% 7%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 51% 51% 50% 49%
    Labor 50.1% 49% 49% 50% 51%

    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.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Approval of Healthcare Agreement

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the recent agreement between the Federal and State Governments for the Federal Government to provide 50% of growth funding for Australia’s healthcare system?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total approve 67% 81% 62% 74%
    Total disapprove 9% 4% 15% 4%
    Strongly approve 18% 31% 10% 25%
    Approve 49% 50% 52% 49%
    Disapprove 6% 4% 10% 3%
    Strongly disapprove 3% * 5% 1%
    Don’t know 24% 15% 24% 21%

    Two-thirds of respondents approved of the recent agreement between the Federal and State Governments for the Federal Government to provide 50% of growth funding for Australia’s healthcare system and only 9% disapproved. All voter groups showed strong majority approval.

    Older people were more supportive than younger people – 71% of those aged 55+ approved compared to 60% of those aged under 18-35. By state, Victoria had the highest approval at 72%.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Impact of Healthcare Agreement

    Q. Do you think this funding agreement will result in a better or a worse healthcare system or will it make no difference?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total better 49% 67% 39% 65%
    Total worse/no difference 34% 20% 49% 20%
    A lot better 8% 16% 4% 8%
    A little better 41% 51% 35% 57%
    Make no difference 28% 19% 38% 18%
    A little worse 3% 1% 5% 1%
    A lot worse 3% * 6% 1%
    Don’t know 16% 13% 12% 16%

    About half the respondents thought the agreement will result in a better healthcare system. Two thirds of Labor and Greens voters thought it would result in a better system but Liberal/National voters were more likely to think it would make no difference or be worse.

    Although showing higher approval of the agreement, older people were more likely to think it would make no difference or be worse – those aged 45+ were split 49% better/40% no difference or worse compared to aged 18-44 at 50% better/29% no difference or worse.

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Taxing Mining Company Profits

    Q. Would you approve or disapprove of higher taxes on the profits of large mining companies?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total approve 56% 75% 36% 83%
    Total disapprove 27% 13% 49% 6%
    Strongly approve 21% 32% 6% 46%
    Approve 35% 43% 30% 37%
    Disapprove 20% 11% 35% 4%
    Strongly disapprove 7% 2% 14% 2%
    Don’t know 17% 13% 15% 11%

    There was majority approval of higher taxes on the profits of large mining companies – 56% approved and 27% disapproved. Labor and Greens voters showed very high approval while Liberal/National voters split 36% approve/49% disapprove.

    There were no significant differences by demographic groupings (age/income/work status).

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  • Feb, 2011

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    Taxing Mining Company Profits

    Q. Would you approve or disapprove of higher taxes on the profits of large mining companies if the funds raised were used to provide higher superannuation for all workers?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total approve 56% 68% 44% 84%
    Total disapprove 24% 14% 39% 8%
    Strongly approve 20% 33% 8% 37%
    Approve 36% 35% 36% 47%
    Disapprove 16% 11% 25% 4%
    Strongly disapprove 8% 3% 14% 4%
    Don’t know 20% 18% 17% 8%

    When asked whether they approved of higher taxes on the profits of large mining companies if the funds raised were used to provide higher superannuation for all workers, 56% approved (no change) and 24% disapproved (down 3%).

    Labor voters were slightly less supportive if the funds were tied to super increases (approval down 7%) while Liberal/National voters were more supportive (approval up 8% and disapproval down 10%).

    Full-time workers split 58% approve/27% disapprove, part-time workers 57% approve/17% disapprove and those not working 53% approve/25% disapprove. Highest disapproval was shown by workers earning over $1,600 per week – 56% approved but 32% disapproved.

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