Government spending on energy sources
Q To what extent would you support or oppose the Government spending taxpayers’ money to research the following energy sources?
| NET: Support | NET: Oppose | Strongly support | Somewhat support | Neither support nor oppose | Somewhat oppose | Strongly oppose | |
| Renewables (such as large-scale solar or wind farms) | 71% | 12% | 45% | 27% | 16% | 7% | 5% |
| Hydrogen technology | 57% | 10% | 24% | 33% | 32% | 7% | 3% |
| Clean coal | 50% | 23% | 20% | 29% | 28% | 11% | 11% |
| Nuclear | 38% | 35% | 17% | 21% | 27% | 15% | 20% |
| Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | Location | ||||||||||
| NET: Support | Total | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | Coalition | Greens | NET: Other | Capital City | Non-Capital City | |
| Renewables (such as large-
scale solar or wind farms) |
71% | 71% | 72% | 74% | 69% | 72% | 78% | 66% | 95% | 63% | 74% | 67% | |
| Hydrogen technology | 57% | 65% | 51% | 53% | 52% | 66% | 58% | 61% | 63% | 54% | 59% | 53% | |
| Clean coal | 50% | 50% | 50% | 49% | 44% | 56% | 43% | 64% | 28% | 48% | 51% | 47% | |
| Nuclear | 38% | 47% | 30% | 32% | 34% | 47% | 34% | 50% | 25% | 37% | 39% | 36% | |
- 71% of participants support the Government spending taxpayers’ money to research renewables, compared to 50% support for clean coal.
- Support for research into renewables is higher in capital cities (74%) than non-capital cities (67%), and higher among Greens voters (95%) than all other voters (63%).
- Coalition voters are most likely to support research into clean coal (64%) and nuclear power (50%) whereas Greens voters are least likely to support those energy sources (28% and 25% respectively).
- Men tend to support research into hydrogen technology (65%) and nuclear (47%) more than women (51% and 30% respectively).
- Participants over 55 years are more likely to support research into hydrogen technology (66%), clean coal (56%) or nuclear (47%) than those aged 18-54 (52%, 46% and 33% respectively).
Energy sources
Q. Do you think Australia should put more emphasis, less emphasis or about the same emphasis as it does now on producing domestic energy from the following sources?
|
|
More emphasis |
Same emphasis |
Less emphasis |
Don’t know |
| Solar power |
70% |
21% |
3% |
5% |
| Wind |
60% |
26% |
8% |
6% |
| Hydro |
46% |
39% |
6% |
9% |
| Gas |
23% |
47% |
22% |
8% |
| Nuclear power |
18% |
26% |
41% |
15% |
| Coal |
9% |
31% |
53% |
8% |
70% think Australia should put more emphasis on producing domestic energy from solar power and 60% think there should be more emphasis on wind power. A majority (53%) think there should be less emphasis on producing energy from coal.
There were few significant differences across demographic groups. Those aged 55+ were a little more likely to want more emphasis on solar (74%) and less emphasis on coal (64%).
Nuclear power
Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
|
Total agree |
Total disagree |
Strongly agree |
Agree |
Disagree |
Strongly disagree |
Don’t know |
|
| Nuclear power is a good way to reduce greenhouse emissions |
40% |
35% |
10% |
30% |
19% |
16% |
25% |
| We should develop renewable energy options before nuclear |
77% |
11% |
41% |
36% |
8% |
3% |
12% |
| Nuclear power is too risky because of the risk of serious accidents |
62% |
27% |
28% |
34% |
20% |
7% |
12% |
| Nuclear power isn’t worth it because of the need to manage radioactive waste |
63% |
22% |
32% |
31% |
17% |
5% |
15% |
| Establishing a nuclear industry would be too expensive |
42% |
29% |
17% |
25% |
23% |
6% |
29% |
| We have our own uranium supplies so it’s logical we should develop nuclear power. |
37% |
40% |
9% |
28% |
22% |
18% |
23% |
There was strong majority agreement with the statements “We should develop renewable energy options before nuclear” (77%), “Nuclear power isn’t worth it because of the need to manage radioactive waste “ (63%) and “Nuclear power is too risky because of the risk of serious accidents “ (62%).
However, respondents were approximately evenly split over “Nuclear power is a good way to reduce greenhouse emissions” (40% agree/35% disagree) and “We have our own uranium supplies so it’s logical we should develop nuclear power” (37%/40%).
Nuclear Power Plants
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.
Nuclear boosters now in meltdown
First published on The Drum: 22/03/2011
Beyond its gob-smacking human tragedy and the looming economic catastrophe, the Japanese tsunami has thrown a radioactive wildcard into the global debate over climate change.
The fallout from the meltdown of Japanese nuclear reactors will undermine the until-now successful attempts by the nuclear industry to reposition itself as part of the global warming solution.
As this week’s Essential Report shows, the public had been coming around to the idea that developing nuclear power in Australia was acceptable. This has changed dramatically over the past seven days with one quarter of all Australians changing their position.
Q. Do you support or oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity?
| 27 Jan 09 | 20 Dec 10 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | ||
| Total support | 43% | 43% | 35% | 29% | 46% | 18% | |
| Total oppose | 35% | 37% | 53% | 58% | 43% | 78% | |
| Strongly support | 14% | 16% | 12% | 10% | 17% | 7% | |
| Support | 29% | 27% | 23% | 19% | 29% | 11% | |
| Oppose | 21% | 21% | 21% | 23% | 22% | 15% | |
| Strongly oppose | 14% | 16% | 32% | 35% | 21% | 63% | |
| Don’t know | 22% | 19% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 5% |
Nuclear Power Plants
Q. Do you support or oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity?
| 27 Jan 09 | 20 Dec 10 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 43% | 43% | 35% | 29% | 46% | 18% |
| Total oppose | 35% | 37% | 53% | 58% | 43% | 78% |
| Strongly support | 14% | 16% | 12% | 10% | 17% | 7% |
| Support | 29% | 27% | 23% | 19% | 29% | 11% |
| Oppose | 21% | 21% | 21% | 23% | 22% | 15% |
| Strongly oppose | 14% | 16% | 32% | 35% | 21% | 63% |
| Don’t know | 22% | 19% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 5% |
53% oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity and 35% support. This is a considerable shift in opinion since this question was last asked in December 2010.
Those that intend to vote Lib/Nat were more likely to support (46%) than oppose (43%) Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity.
There was strong opposition from Labor (58% oppose or strongly oppose) and the Greens (78% oppose or strongly oppose).
There is a considerable difference between the attitudes of males and females towards nuclear power plants – 49% of males, compared to just 20% of females support or strongly support Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity.
There was also strong support from those aged 65+, with 47% either supporting or strongly supporting Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity.
Nuclear Power
Q. Do you support or oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity?
| 27 Jan 09 | 20 Dec 10 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 43% | 43% | 41% | 56% | 25% |
| Total oppose | 35% | 37% | 41% | 31% | 65% |
| Strongly support | 14% | 16% | 16% | 22% | 5% |
| Support | 29% | 27% | 25% | 34% | 20% |
| Oppose | 21% | 21% | 23% | 20% | 33% |
| Strongly oppose | 14% | 16% | 18% | 11% | 32% |
| Don’t know | 22% | 19% | 17% | 13% | 10% |
43% support Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity and 35% oppose. These figures are almost identical to the results obtained when this question was last asked in January 2009.
Coalition voters show majority support (56%/31%), Greens voters are strongly opposed (25%/65%) and Labor voters split 41%/41%.
There are substantial differences by gender – 63% of men support and 26% oppose but women oppose 48% to 25%.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Views towards reopening international borders
- Views towards state border closures
- Comprehension and confidence in PM’s plan to ‘safely reopen’ Australia
- Uptake of a Covid-19 vaccine
- Necessity of mandatory vaccinations in specific situations
- Views towards easing restrictions for fully vaccinated people
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