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.
Election, Independents, Minority Government
Q. Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the decisions the independents have reached about which party they will support?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote ind/other | |
| Total approve | 41% | 82% | 5% | 72% | 40% |
| Total disapprove | 45% | 6% | 89% | 14% | 34% |
| Strongly approve | 12% | 29% | * | 15% | 3% |
| Approve | 29% | 53% | 5% | 57% | 37% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 5% | 35% | 11% | 18% |
| Strongly disapprove | 25% | 1% | 54% | 3% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 12% | 5% | 14% | 27% |
Respondents were split over the independents’ decision about the party to support – 41% approve and 45% disapprove.
82% of Labor voters and 72% of Greens voters approve while 89% of Coalition voters disapprove (and 54% strongly disapprove). Voters for independents and other parties split 40% approve/34% disapprove. Comments »
Election, Greens, Minority Government
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the agreement between the Labor Party and the Greens for the Greens to give their support to the Labor Party?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total approve | 41% | 84% | 4% | 79% |
| Total disapprove | 46% | 7% | 90% | 10% |
| Strongly approve | 12% | 27% | – | 30% |
| Approve | 29% | 57% | 4% | 49% |
| Disapprove | 18% | 4% | 32% | 8% |
| Strongly disapprove | 28% | 3% | 58% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 10% | 6% | 13% |
Respondents were also split over the agreement between the Labor Party and the Greens for the Greens to give their support to the Labor Party – 41% approve and 46% disapprove – with views closely associated with party preferences.
84% of Labor voters and 79% of Greens voters approve while 90% of Coalition voters disapprove (and 58% strongly disapprove). Comments »
Q. After the election neither the Labor Party nor the Coalition has a majority in the House of Representatives – they need the support of independents to govern. Do you think this will result in a better or worse Government for Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total better | 30% | 37% | 19% | 47% |
| Total worse | 42% | 33% | 62% | 30% |
| A lot better | 8% | 10% | 3% | 12% |
| A little better | 22% | 27% | 16% | 35% |
| A little worse | 22% | 19% | 28% | 23% |
| A lot worse | 20% | 14% | 34% | 7% |
| Make no difference | 15% | 16% | 11% | 10% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 14% | 8% | 13% |
42% believe that a minority Government supported by the independents will result in a worse Government for Australia and 30% think it will be a better Government. Liberal/National voters are more likely to think it would be a worse Government (62%) while 47% of Greens voters think it would be a better Government. Labor voters are split – 37% better/33% worse.
Older voters are most likely to think it would be a worse Government – of those aged 55+, 47% say worse and 28% better. Comments »