Election, fair work, Greens, IR, Labor, Liberals, Nationals, poll, Polling, rights at work, work, WorkChoices, workers
Q. If the Liberals won the election and reintroduced WorkChoices or similar laws, how concerned would you be?
| 31 May 10 | 12 July 10 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Very concerned | 28% | 29% | 26% | 53% | 4% | 54% |
| Quite concerned | 17% | 19% | 15% | 22% | 11% | 15% |
| A little concerned | 20% | 16% | 20% | 12% | 24% | 21% |
| Not concerned | 24% | 25% | 27% | 6% | 52% | 6% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 11% | 11% | 7% | 9% | 4% |
Respondents were also less concerned about the re-introduction of WorkChoices than last year. 41% (down 7%) would be quite or very concerned if WorkChoices or similar laws were re-introduced and 47% (up 6%) were only a little or not concerned.
75% of Labor voters and 69% of Greens voters would be concerned. 76% of Liberal/National voters would be a little/not concerned and 15% concerned. Those most concerned were aged 25-34 (47%) and aged 45-54 (48%).
ER, Essential Report, Exporting Uranium, Greens, India, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, trade, Uranium, uranium export
Q. Do you support or oppose the proposal for Australia to export uranium to India?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 30% | 31% | 35% | 17% |
| Total oppose | 45% | 40% | 47% | 66% |
| Strongly support | 7% | 6% | 10% | 1% |
| Support | 23% | 25% | 25% | 16% |
| Oppose | 24% | 25% | 25% | 30% |
| Strongly oppose | 21% | 15% | 22% | 36% |
| Don’t know | 25% | 28% | 17% | 17% |
30% support the proposal for Australia to export uranium to India and 45% oppose – 25% had no opinion. All voter groups were more likely to oppose the sale of uranium to India.
All age groups were more likely to oppose the proposal – and men were split 43% support to 41% oppose, compared to women 18% support/49% oppose.
electricity, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Nuclear Power, nuclear power plants, Polling
Q. Do you support or oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity?
| 27 Jan 2009 | 20 Dec 2010 | 21 Mar 2011 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 43% | 43% | 35% | 39% | 31% | 50% | 27% |
| Total oppose | 35% | 37% | 53% | 45% | 53% | 37% | 68% |
| Strongly support | 14% | 16% | 12% | 13% | 7% | 20% | 9% |
| Support | 29% | 27% | 23% | 26% | 24% | 30% | 18% |
| Oppose | 21% | 21% | 21% | 22% | 27% | 18% | 25% |
| Strongly oppose | 14% | 16% | 32% | 23% | 26% | 19% | 43% |
| Don’t know | 22% | 19% | 13% | 16% | 16% | 13% | 6% |
45% oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity and 39% support. This is a considerable shift in opinion since this question was last asked in March following the problems with the nuclear power plants in Japan after the tsunami. However, there remains net opposition to nuclear power plants – compared to net support in surveys conducted in 2009 and 2010.
Those that intend to vote Lib/Nat were more likely to support (50%) than oppose (37%) Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity.
There was majority opposition from Labor (53% oppose or strongly oppose) and the Greens (68% oppose or strongly oppose).
There is a considerable difference between the attitudes of males and females towards nuclear power plants – 56% of males, compared to just 24% of females support or strongly support Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity.
2PP, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, 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 = 1,898 respondents
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 45% | 44% | 43% | 44% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 48% | 47% | 46% | 47% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 33% | 34% | 35% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 55% | 55% | 54% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 45% | 45% | 46% | 46% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from 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.
Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 14 Mar | 14 June | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | 14 Nov | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 44% | 41% | 36% | 38% | 41% | 83% | 7% | 80% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 33% | 36% | 40% | 39% | 36% | 5% | 73% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 23% | 24% | 12% | 20% | 17% |
41% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 36% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Julia Gillard of 6% on last month’s figures (from -1% to +5%). This is the best result for Julia Gillard since June.
Men are evenly split 39%/39% and women favour Julia Gillard 42%/33%.
Australia, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling
Q. To which region do you think Australia’s future is most closely tied?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Europe | 7% | 6% | 7% | 5% |
| Asia | 74% | 81% | 76% | 82% |
| North America | 9% | 6% | 10% | 10% |
| Don’t know | 10% | 6% | 8% | 4% |
74% think Australia’s future is most closely tied to Asia – only 9% think it is tied to North America and 7% Europe.
Views are similar across major voter groups. However, younger respondents were a little less likely to agree – 68% of those aged under 35 think Australia’s future is most closely tied to Asia compared to 81% of those aged 55+.
Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, voter interests
Q. Which political party do you think best represents the interests of –
| Labor | Liberal | Greens | Don’t know | Net (Labor-
Liberal |
Net
May 11 |
||
| Families with young children | 42% | 31% | 5% | 23% | +11 | +3 | |
| Students | 36% | 26% | 12% | 27% | +10 | +2 | |
| Working people on average incomes | 44% | 33% | 5% | 18% | +11 | +8 | |
| Working people on low incomes | 50% | 25% | 6% | 19% | +25 | +16 | |
| Working people on high incomes | 13% | 67% | 2% | 18% | -54 | -50 | |
| People on welfare | 46% | 20% | 9% | 26% | +26 | +15 | |
| Pensioners | 39% | 27% | 7% | 27% | +12 | +5 | |
| Small businesses and self-employed | 22% | 51% | 3% | 24% | -29 | -27 | |
| Big business | 11% | 68% | 1% | 19% | -57 | -49 | |
| The next generation of Australians | 21% | 32% | 17% | 30% | -11 | -12 | |
| Indigenous people | 28% | 17% | 19% | 36% | +11 | +2 | |
| Ethnic communities | 27% | 19% | 15% | 39% | +8 | +1 | |
| Rural and regional Australians | 22% | 35% | 12% | 31% | -13 | -16 |
The Labor Party is considered the party which best represents the interests of families with young children, students, working people on low and average incomes, people on welfare and pensioners. The Liberal Party is considered substantially better at representing the interests of people on high incomes, big business and small business and self-employed. The Greens’ main strengths are in representing the next generation, indigenous people and ethnic communities.
Since this question was last asked in May, the Labor Party has considerably improved its position on representing the interests of families with young children, students, people on low incomes and people on welfare. The perception that the Liberal Party best represents the interest of big business has increased.
2PP, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, 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 = 1,906 respondents
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 45% | 45% | 44% | 43% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 48% | 48% | 47% | 46% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 33% | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 10% | 11% | 10% | 9% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 9% | 8% | 9% | 9% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 55% | 55% | 55% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 45% | 45% | 45% | 46% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from 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.