Rudd/Abbott Personality Traits
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd?
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?
| Rudd
1 March 10 |
Abbott
1 March 10 |
Difference (Rudd lead) | |
| Intelligent | 82% | 71% | +11% |
| Hard-working | 77% | 69% | +8% |
| A capable leader | 65% | 49% | +16% |
| Demanding | 55% | 55% | – |
| Arrogant | 45% | 53% | -8% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 45% | 50% | +5% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 62% | 49% | +13% |
| Visionary | 44% | 33% | +11% |
| Superficial | 46% | 43% | +3 |
| Good in a crisis | 56% | 38% | +18% |
| Narrow-minded | 36% | 57% | -21% |
| Down to earth | 57% | 46% | +11% |
| Too inflexible | 38% | 49% | -11% |
| Complacent | 40% | 33% | +7% |
| More honest than most politicians | 47% | 34% | +13% |
| Trustworthy | 51% | 38% | +13% |
Rudd has his strongest lead over Abbott when it comes to appearing good in a crisis (+18%) and as a capable leader (+16%). People think Rudd is better than Abbott when it comes to understanding the problems facing Australia (+13%), more honest than most politicians (+13%) and trustworthy (+13%).
Rudd trails Abbott most significantly in terms of appearing narrow-minded (-21%), too inflexible (-11%) and arrogant (-8%). Comments »
Attributes to Describe the Prime Minister
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd?
| 29 June 09 | 7 Dec 09 | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 84% | 82% | -2% |
| Hard-working | 83% | 77% | -6% |
| A capable leader | 72% | 69% | -3% |
| Demanding | 67% | 60% | -7% |
| Arrogant | 46% | 49% | +3% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 41% | 45% | +4% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 67% | 59% | -8% |
| Visionary | 49% | 48% | -1% |
| Superficial | 40% | 41% | +1% |
| Good in a crisis | 60% | 58% | -2% |
| Narrow-minded | 32% | 36% | +4% |
| Down to earth | 56% | 55% | -1% |
| Too inflexible | 32% | 38% | +6% |
| Complacent | 28% | 38% | +10% |
| More honest than most politicians | 47% | 49% | +2% |
| Trustworthy | * | 51% | * |
*Not asked in June 2009
Most people consider Rudd intelligent (82%), hard-working (77%), a capable leader (69%) and demanding (60%).
Since we last asked this question in June 2009, Rudd has lost points on qualities such as understanding the problems facing Australia (-8%), demanding (-7%) and hard-working (-6%). Rudd has gained points in terms of being complacent (+10%), too inflexible (+6%), out of touch with ordinary people (+4%) and narrow-minded (+4%).
Approval of the Prime Minister
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister?
| 12 Jan 09 | 9 Feb 09 | 30 Mar 09 | 18 May 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 10 Aug 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 9 Nov 09 | 30 Nov 09 | |
| Strongly approve | 14% | 17% | 21% | 14% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 14% | 9% |
| Approve | 52% | 50% | 50% | 48% | 48% | 47% | 51% | 47% | 47% |
| Disapprove | 16% | 15% | 14% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 20% |
| Strongly disapprove | 6% | 8% | 7% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 6% | 13% | 15% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 8% | 10% |
| Total approve | 66% | 67% | 71% | 62% | 62% | 60% | 66% | 61% | 56% |
| Total disapprove | 22% | 23% | 21% | 29% | 29% | 27% | 23% | 32% | 35% |
56% of people surveyed approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister and 35% disapprove. Kevin Rudd’s approval rating has decreased five percentage points since we last asked this question in November and his disapproval rating has increased three percentage points. Rudd’s approval rating is the lowest and the disapproval rating is the highest recorded over the last year.
Approval followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister (91%) while Coalition voters were more likely to disapprove (74%). 21% of Coalition voters approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister.
The net rating (approve minus disapprove) is +21%.
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