influence, mining, mining companies
Q. Do you think the mining companies have had too much or not enough influence on Government policies?
| Too much | 41% |
| Not enough | 12% |
| About the right influence | 25% |
| Don’t know | 21% |
41% think mining companies have had too much influence of Government policies, 12% think they have not had enough and 25% think they have had about the right influence. 57% of Labor voters and 69% of Greens voters think mining companies have had too much influence. Liberal voters were evenly split – 22% think they have had too much influence, 22% not enough and 40% about the right influence. Comments »
government, mining, RSPT, tax
Q. Which of the following approaches do you think the Government should take in their dispute with the mining companies over the proposed resources super profits tax?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Proceed with the tax as planned | 11% | 17% | 4% | 17% |
| Compromise a little and make minor changes to the tax | 35% | 52% | 18% | 62% |
| Compromise a lot and make major changes to the tax | 26% | 20% | 41% | 7% |
| Not proceed with the tax in any form | 14% | 3% | 30% | 5% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 8% | 7% | 8 |
Nearly half the respondents (46%) believe that the Government should proceed with the resources super profits tax unchanged or with minor changes. Only 14% oppose that tax in any form and 26% think the Government should make major changes to the tax.
69% of Labor voters want the tax to proceed unchanged or with minor changes as does 79% of Greens voters. 41% of Liberal/National voters want major changes and 30% do not want the tax in any form. Comments »
banks, business, influence, media, mining, parties, religious, unions
Q. How much influence do you think the following groups have on the policies of Australian political parties?
| Too much | About the right amount | Not enough | Don’t know | |
| The media | 53% | 27% | 5% | 15% |
| Banks | 50% | 28% | 5% | 18% |
| Business lobby groups | 40% | 33% | 5% | 21% |
| Mining companies | 40% | 33% | 10% | 17% |
| Unions | 40% | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| Religious groups | 38% | 29% | 11% | 21% |
| Environment groups | 25% | 31% | 29% | 15% |
About half the respondents believed that the media (53%) and banks (50%) have too much influence on the policies of Australian political parties.
40% believed that business lobby groups, mining companies and unions have too much influence.
Only 25% thought environmental groups have too much influence and 29% think they have not enough influence.
There were substantial differences by party preference on the influence of business lobby groups (Labor 52% too much, Lib/Nat 28%), unions (26%/61%), and mining companies (57%/26%). However, there was little difference on the perceived influence of the media (Labor 57% too much, Lib/Nat 56%) and banks (53%/51%). Comments »
banks, business lobby, environment, mining, the media, trust, trust in group, unions
Q. And how much trust do you have in the following groups to represent the interests of people like you?
| Total a lot/some trust | A lot of trust | Some trust | A little trust | No trust at all | Don’t know | |
| Environment groups | 38% | 8% | 30% | 28% | 22% | 11% |
| Unions | 33% | 8% | 25% | 27% | 30% | 10% |
| Business lobby groups | 21% | 4% | 17% | 30% | 35% | 15% |
| Religious groups | 20% | 5% | 15% | 24% | 43% | 13% |
| Mining companies | 20% | 2% | 18% | 27% | 40% | 13% |
| Banks | 15% | 2% | 13% | 26% | 49% | 10% |
| The media | 14% | 1% | 13% | 33% | 43% | 9% |
38% said they have a lot or some trust in environment groups and 33% have a lot/some trust in unions. Banks (15%) and the media (14%) were the least trusted groups.
49% had no trust at all in banks and 43% had no trust at all in religious groups and the media.
51% of Labor voters have trust in unions and 47% have trust in environment groups. The most trusted groups for Liberal/National voters are mining companies (32%) and business lobby groups (31%). Comments »
investment, jobs, mining, profits, resources super profits tax, RSPT, tax
Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view in relation to the Government’s proposed resources super profits tax?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| The new tax will result in mining companies cutting back on their investments in Australia and there will be a significant loss of Australian jobs | 42% | 16% | 72% |
| Mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax. | 40% | 69% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 17% | 15% | 11% |
Respondents were split over which statement best described their view of the Government’s proposed resources super profits tax – 42% agreed “the new tax will result in mining companies cutting back on their investments in Australia and there will be a significant loss of Australian jobs” and 40% agreed “mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax”.
Opinions were strongly related to party preference – 69% of Labor voters agreed that “mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax” and 72% of Liberal/National voters agreed that “the new tax will result in mining companies cutting back on their investments in Australia and there will be a significant loss of Australian jobs”.
53% of those on low incomes (<$600pw) agreed that “mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax”. Comments »
Campaigning, clive palmer, EMC, mining, peter lewis, unspun
The last time a determined interest group took on a federal government, EMC was behind the wheel – driving the ACTU Rights at Work campaign.
This time the attack is coming from the mining industry, and if reports are to be believed, the miners are forking out in three months $100 million – about four times the three year budget for the Rights at Work campaign.
Having worked on a campaign that most agree shifted government, it’s worth asking – is the Miners campaign as effective? Are the winning the hearts and minds of the battlers? In short, are they going to change the government?
Here are few lessons we learned from Rights at Work, and my initial reactions on how the mining lobby is faring. Comments »
Advertising, Greens, Labor, Liberal, mining, resources super profits tax, RSPT
Q. Thinking about the proposed resources super profits tax and the current advertising by the Government and the mining companies, who is more believable – the Government or the mining companies?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote Other/Ind. | |
| The Government | 33% | 62% | 9% | 51% | 28% |
| The mining companies | 36% | 11% | 68% | 20% | 37% |
| Don’t know | 31% | 28% | 23% | 29% | 35% |
Respondents were divided over the believability of advertising by the Government and the mining industry of the proposed resources super profits tax.
36% think the mining companies’ advertising is more believable and 33% think the Government’s is more believable. 31% don’t know which is more believable.
Opinions are closely associated with voting intention. 62% of Labor voters think the Government’s advertising is more believable and 68% of Liberal/National voters favour the mining companies’. Greens voters are more likely to believe the Government (51%/20%).
There is a significant difference in opinion by gender – men are more likely to believe the Government (Govt. 41%/Mining cos. 36%/Don’t know 24%) and women more likely to believe the mining companies or say they don’t know (26%/35%/38%). Comments »
Campaigning, clive palmer, EMC, mining, peter lewis, unspun
When the Australian Workers Union decided to inject itself into the national debate on the resource Rent Tax, they called EMC with a challenging brief.
With a 48 hour turn around we were asked to script produce and deliver a 30 second TV ad that would rebut the increasingly shrill complaints of the mining lobby.
Working with Milko Productions, EMC adapted a concept we had been working on for some time – the notion that the mining industry is defined by what it takes out of Australia. Comments »