The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report

  • May, 2018

    Malcolm Turnbull

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister?

     

      Total   Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote Other   Apr 2018 Mar 2018 Dec 2017 Sep 2017
    Total approve 40%   27% 73% 20% 20%   39% 41% 41% 41%
    Total disapprove 42%   60% 16% 55% 65%   42% 43% 44% 46%
    Strongly approve 9%   5% 17% 4% 4%   8% 9% 8% 7%
    Approve 31%   22% 56% 16% 16%   31% 32% 33% 34%
    Disapprove 22%   32% 13% 28% 21%   26% 26% 27% 28%
    Strongly disapprove 20%   28% 3% 27% 44%   16% 17% 17% 18%
    Don’t know 19%   13% 11% 24% 15%   19% 16% 15% 14%

    73% (up 3%) of Liberal/National voters approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing, compared to 27% of ALP voters and 20% of Greens and other voters.40% approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister (up 1% from last month), and 42% disapproved (no change – a change in net approval rating from -3 to -2.

    By gender, men were 45% approve/43% disapprove and women 35% approve/40% disapprove.

  • May, 2017

    ,

    Malcolm Turnbull

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister? 

      Total   Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other   Apr 2017 Mar 2017 Feb 2017 Jan 2017 Dec 2016 June 2016 Dec 2015
    Total Approve 37% 18% 75% 17% 20%   35% 33% 34% 37% 34% 38% 56%
    Total Disapprove 48% 70% 17% 72% 69%   47% 50% 49% 48% 46% 40% 23%
    Strongly approve 5% 2% 11% 2% 5% 5% 5% 6% 5% 6% 13%
    Approve 32% 16% 64% 17% 18% 30% 28% 29% 31% 29% 32% 43%
    Disapprove 29% 42% 15% 37% 40% 29% 30% 28% 30% 30% 24% 16%
    Strongly disapprove 19% 28% 2% 35% 29% 18% 20% 21% 18% 16% 16% 7%
    Don’t know 15%   12% 8% 12% 10%   17% 18% 16% 16% 20% 21% 21%

    37% approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister (up 2% from last month), and 48% disapproved (up 1% from last month).

    75% of Liberal/National voters approved of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing, compared to 18% of ALP voters and 17% of Greens voters.

  • May, 2017

    , ,

    Preferred Prime Minister

    Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten? 

      Total   Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Vote other   Apr 2017 Mar 2017 Feb 2017 Jan 2017 Dec 2016 Jun 2016 Dec 2015 Dec 2014
    Malcolm Turnbull 39% 11% 85% 12% 34%   39% 38% 39% 39% 39% 40% 54% 54%
    Bill Shorten 31% 61% 4% 59% 17%   28% 26% 25% 28% 28% 29% 15% 15%
    Don’t know 30%   27% 11% 30% 49%   32% 36% 36% 33% 33% 32% 31% 31%

    39% thought that Malcolm Turnbull would make a better Prime Minister (unchanged from last month), and 31% thought Bill Shorten would be better (up 3%).

    The results were split by party, with 85% of Liberal/National voters saying that Malcolm Turnbull would be a better Prime Minister, and 61% of ALP voters saying the Bill Shorten would.

    Greens voters preferred Bill Shorten (59% preferred) to Turnbull (12%).

  • May, 2016

    ,

    Leader attributes – Malcolm Turnbull

    Q: Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull?

      Total   May 3 2016   Difference
    Intelligent 76% 77% -1
    Out of touch with ordinary people 63% 56% +7
    Hard-working 60% 65% -5
    A capable leader 55% 59% -4
    Arrogant 51% 46% +5
    Good in a crisis 48% 49% -1
    Superficial 48% 46% +2
    Understands the problems facing Australia 47% 52% -5
    Narrow-minded 41% 41%
    Visionary 40% 41% -1
    Trustworthy 37% 40% -3
    More honest than most politicians 36% 39% -3
    Erratic 34% 34%
    Intolerant 34% 34%
    Aggressive 31% 28% +3

    Malcolm Turnbull’s key attributes were intelligent (76%), out of touch with ordinary people (63%), hard working (60%) and a capable leader (55%).

    Over the last 3 weeks, the main changes have been for out of touch with ordinary people (up 7%), hard-working (down 5%), arrogant (up 5%) and understands the problems facing Australia (down 5%).

  • May, 2016

    , ,

    Leader attributes – comparisons

      Malcolm Turnbull Bill Shorten   Difference
    Out of touch with ordinary people 63% 42% +21
    Intelligent 76% 60% +16
    A capable leader 55% 43% +12
    Visionary 40% 28% +12
    Arrogant 51% 40% +11
    Good in a crisis 48% 37% +11
    More honest than most politicians 36% 26% +10
    Trustworthy 37% 31% +6
    Superficial 48% 44% +4
    Intolerant 34% 30% +4
    Narrow-minded 41% 40% +1
    Aggressive 31% 30% +1
    Hard-working 60% 60%
    Understands the problems facing Australia 47% 50% -3
    Erratic 34% 37% -3

    Compared to Bill Shorten, Malcolm Turnbull is more likely to be considered out of touch with ordinary people (+21), intelligent (+16%), a capable leader (+12%) and visionary (+12%).

  • May, 2016

    , , ,

    Leader trust to handle issues

    Q: Which leader – Malcolm Turnbull or Bill Shorten – would you trust most to handle the following issues? 

      Malcolm Turnbull Bill Shorten Don’t know   Difference
    Regulating the banking and finance sector 33% 27% 39%   +6
    Supporting Australia’s manufacturing industries 30% 31% 39%   -1
    Ensuring big companies pay their share of tax 28% 34% 38%   -6
    Protecting the Great Barrier Reef 21% 27% 52%   -6
    Funding hospitals 27% 35% 38%   -8
    Addressing climate change 21% 29% 50%   -8
    Making housing more affordable for first home buyers 23% 32% 44%   -9
    Looking after the needs of pensioners 21% 35% 44%   -14
    Funding public schools 24% 40% 36%   -16
    Maintaining workers’ wages and conditions 21% 43% 35%   -22

    Bill Shorten is trusted more for maintaining workers’ wages and conditions (+22), funding public schools (+16) and looking after the needs of pensioners (+14).

  • Apr, 2016

    , ,

    Approval of Malcolm Turnbull

    Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister?

     
    Total
     
    Vote Labor
    Vote Lib/Nat
    Vote Greens
    Vote other
     
    Oct 2015
    Nov 2015
    Dec 2015
    Jan 2016
    Feb 2016
    Mar 2016
    Total approve 39%   21% 69% 31% 16%   47% 56% 56% 51% 51% 45%
    Total disapprove 39%   60% 19% 52% 50%   17% 20% 23% 25% 27% 35%
    Strongly approve 7% 4% 15% 1% 1% 11% 12% 13% 9% 8% 6%
    Approve 32% 17% 54% 30% 15% 36% 44% 43% 42% 43% 39%
    Disapprove 23% 35% 15% 21% 27% 11% 14% 16% 16% 18% 24%
    Strongly disapprove 16% 25% 4% 31% 23% 6% 6% 7% 9% 9% 11%
    Don’t know 22% 19% 13% 17% 34% 35% 23% 21% 23% 21% 21%

    39% (down 6% since last month) of respondents approve of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister and 39% (up 4%) disapprove – a net approval rating of zero (down 10).

    69% (down 6%) of Liberal/National voters approve of Malcolm Turnbull’s performance with 19% (up 6%) disapproving. 21% (down 3%) of Labor voters and 31% (up 8%) of Greens voters approve of Malcolm Turnbull’s performance.

    By gender, men were 41% approve/42% disapprove and women 37% approve/37% disapprove.

  • Apr, 2016

    , , ,

    Better Prime Minister

    Q: Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten?

     
    Total
     
    Vote Labor
    Vote Lib/Nat
    Vote Greens
    Vote other
     
    Sep 2015
    Oct 2015
    Nov 2015
    Dec 2015
    Jan 2016
    Feb 2016
    Mar 2016
    Malcolm Turnbull 44% 17% 79% 31% 37% 53% 48% 55% 54% 51% 52% 48%
    Bill Shorten 22% 52% 3% 40% 10% 17% 19% 14% 15% 18% 15% 19%
    Don’t know 34% 31% 18% 29% 53% 30% 33% 31% 31% 31% 33% 33%

    44% (down 4%) of respondents think Malcolm Turnbull would make the better Prime Minister and 22% (up 3%) think Bill Shorten would make the better Prime Minister.

    49% of men prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 22% prefer Bill Shorten.

    39% of women prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 23% prefer Bill Shorten.

Error: