2PP, EMC, ER, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, 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 = 1,896
| First preference/leaning to | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 38% | 42% | 42% | 41% | 42% |
| National | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Total Lib/Nat | 40% | 46% | 45% | 44% | 45% |
| Labor | 37% | 39% | 38% | 38% | 38% |
| Greens | 12% | 8% | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| Other/Independent | 10% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 6% |
| 2PP | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week
|
This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 48% | 51% | 51% | 51% | 51% |
| Labor | 52% | 49% | 49% | 49% | 49% |
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.
Christmas, EMC, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, nation-building, National Broadband Network, NBN, NBN rollout, peter lewis, technology
First Published on The Drum 30/11/2010
The magic of Christmas lies in the expectation. You hang out the stocking, leave a piece of cake and a stubbie for Santa and head off to bed.
When you wake up, there it is laid out for you, something shiny and new that you really, really wanted.
In this spirit it should come as no surprise that the Federal Parliament’s final act of the year was the passage of legislation enabling the rollout of the National Broadband Network, the embodiment of Labor’s hope that something better lies around the corner.
And there are grounds for optimism. In an era of cynicism with nearly every aspect of politics – and despite a concerted Opposition attack – this week’s Essential Report shows strong and increasing support for the network.
2PP, EMC, ER, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Labor, Liberal, 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 = 1,858
| First preference/leaning to | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 39% | 41% | 42% | 42% | 41% |
| National | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Total Lib/Nat | 41% | 44% | 45% | 45% | 44% |
| Labor | 39% | 41% | 39% | 38% | 38% |
| Greens | 9% | 8% | 10% | 10% | 11% |
| Other/Independent | 10% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 7% |
| 2PP | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week
|
This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49% | 50% | 51% | 51% | 51% |
| Labor | 51% | 50% | 49% | 49% | 49% |
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.
EMC, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, same sex marriage
Q. Do you think people of the same sex should or should not be allowed to marry?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Should be allowed to marry | 50% | 60% | 38% | 82% |
| Should not be allowed to marry | 37% | 28% | 50% | 13% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 12% | 12% | 4% |
50% think people of the same sex be allowed to marry and 37% think they should not be allowed to marry.
Strongest support for same sex marriage is shown by Greens voters (82%), Labor voters (60%), females (63%) and those aged 25-44 (61%).
50% of Coalition voters and 68% of those aged 65+ oppose same sex marriage.
By religion, Catholics (58%) and those with no religion (63%) are more likely to support same sex marriage. Anglicans are divided (47% support, 43% oppose) and other Christians are strongly opposed (68%).
Of those who think the issue is important, 60% think same sex marriage should be allowed and 37% think it should not be allowed.
EMC, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, same sex marriage
Q. Compared to other issues that are often raised in politics – like the economy, healthcare, immigration, etc – how important to you personally is the issue of whether people of the same sex should be allowed to marry?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total important | 37% | 37% | 32% | 56% |
| Total not important | 60% | 60% | 66% | 42% |
| Very important | 15% | 16% | 13% | 24% |
| Quite important | 22% | 21% | 19% | 32% |
| Not so important | 31% | 33% | 30% | 23% |
| Not at all important | 29% | 27% | 36% | 19% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 3% | 1% | 2% |
37% believe the same sex marriage is an important issue and 60% think it is not important. A majority of Greens voters (56%) think it is important.
41% of those who support same sex marriage think the issue is important and 36% of those opposed think it important.
Anglicans, Christians, EMC, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, same sex marriage
Q. From what you understand which party has the policy on same sex marriage which is closest to your own view of the issue?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Labor Party | 13% | 29% | 2% | 1% |
| Liberal Party | 21% | 5% | 44% | 3% |
| Greens | 20% | 19% | 13% | 71% |
| Don’t know | 46% | 47% | 41% | 24% |
21% prefer the Liberal Party policy on same sex marriage, 20% prefer the Greens and 13% Labor.
Opinions generally follow party preference although only 29% of Labor voters prefer the Labor policy and 19% prefer the Greens.
Those with no religion are more likely to prefer the Greens policy (29%) while 30% of Anglicans and 32% of other Christians prefer the Liberal policy.
broadband, EMC, ER, Essential Report, Federal Government, Greens, Internet, Labor, Liberal, National Broadband Network, NBN
Q. The Federal Government plans to build a National Broadband Network over the next few years. How important do you think it is for Australia to build a National Broadband Network?
| Total
Nov 10 |
Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Nov 09 | ||
| Total important | 69% | 87% | 54% | 84% | 65% | |
| Total not important | 25% | 9% | 42% | 12% | 26% | |
| Very Important | 35% | 55% | 17% | 55% | 30% | |
| Quite Important | 34% | 32% | 37% | 29% | 35% | |
| Not so important | 14% | 6% | 21% | 10% | 20% | |
| Not at all important | 11% | 3% | 21% | 2% | 6% | |
| Don’t know | 6% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 8% |
69% think that it is important for Australia to build a National Broadband Network and 25% think it is not important. This represents an increase in support (net +5%) for the NBN since this question was last asked in November 2009.
Labor (87%) and Greens voters (84%) and more likely to think the NBN is important. A majority of Liberal/National voters (54%) think it is important although a sizable minority (42%) think it is not important.
A majority of all age groups believe the NBN is important, although support tends to decrease with increasing age – of those aged 65+, 54% think it is important and 45% not important.
EMC, ER, Essential Report, Federal Government, Greens, Internet, Labor, Liberal, National Broadband Network, NBN
Q. Thinking about the Government’s plan to build a national broadband network, how much benefit will a national broadband network be to-
| Total benefit | Great
benefit |
Some benefit | Little benefit | Don’t know | Total benefit
April 09 |
||
| Australian businesses | 84% | 55% | 29% | 8% | 8% | 80% | |
| Schools | 78% | 48% | 30% | 14% | 8% | na | |
| The general public overall | 78% | 44% | 34% | 15% | 8% | 76% | |
| Children | 72% | 39% | 33% | 19% | 9% | na | |
| The Australian economy | 71% | 39% | 32% | 18% | 11% | 65% | |
| You personally | 65% | 33% | 32% | 27% | 8% | 66% | |
| The economy of your local community | 65% | 32% | 33% | 24% | 12% | na |
The NBN is thought to be of most benefit to Australian business (84%), schools (78%) and the general public overall (78%). Since this question was last asked in April 2009, perceptions of benefit have increased for Australian business (+4%) and the Australian economy (+6%).
65% think they will personally benefit from the NBN. Those most likely to think they will benefit personally are aged under 35 (74%) Labor voters (83%), Greens voters (80%) and full-time workers (71%).