Perceptions of Tony Abbott
Q. Thinking about the leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, please indicate yes or no for each of the following statements:
|
Total |
Vote |
Vote |
Vote |
Men |
Women |
|
| Has the right temperament to be Prime Minister |
42% |
13% |
77% |
10% |
44% |
39% |
| Would be embarrassing as Prime Minister of Australia |
50% |
78% |
19% |
83% |
49% |
50% |
| Is someone that can effectively represent Australia’s interests |
43% |
11% |
82% |
8% |
45% |
40% |
| Will serve my interests as Prime Minister |
39% |
7% |
81% |
6% |
42% |
37% |
| Is too influenced by their religious beliefs |
40% |
62% |
19% |
73% |
43% |
38% |
| Is the best person to lead their party |
33% |
10% |
62% |
7% |
36% |
30% |
| Is someone that understands the challenges facing Australian women |
39% |
10% |
74% |
5% |
42% |
36% |
| Has good parental leave policies |
44% |
17% |
76% |
19% |
45% |
42% |
| Has difficulty controlling their aggression |
44% |
68% |
19% |
73% |
45% |
44% |
Exactly half the respondents agree that Tony Abbott would be embarrassing as Prime Minister of Australia. On all other statements he scored less than 50%. His main negatives were that only 33% agree he is the best person to lead their party, 39% agree he will serve my interests as Prime Minister and 39% agree he is someone that understands the challenges facing Australian women.
The main differences by gender were on the statements that he is someone that understands the challenges facing Australian women (men 42%/women 36%), the best person to lead their party (36%/30%), has the right temperament to be Prime Minister (44%/39%), can effectively represent Australia’s interests (45%/40%), will serve my interests as Prime Minister (42%/37%) and too influenced by their religious beliefs (43%/38%). On each of these statements women scored Tony Abbott lower than men did.
Important Decisions
Q. Which of the following decisions made by the Federal Labor Government since they were elected do you think is most important for Australia’s future? And which is second? And which is third?
| First | Second | Third | Total | |
| The mining tax on large profits | 17% | 18% | 13% | 48% |
| Addressing climate change with the carbon tax | 19% | 11% | 13% | 43% |
| Increase compulsory superannuation to 12% | 17% | 13% | 12% | 42% |
| Provide 18 weeks paid parental leave | 7% | 6% | 7% | 20% |
| Childcare rebate increased from 30% to 50% | 4% | 7% | 6% | 17% |
| Allow Labor politicians to have a conscience vote on same-sex marriage | 4% | 6% | 5% | 15% |
| Allow the export of uranium to India | 4% | 5% | 4% | 13% |
| Gambling reforms which require poker machine players to set a limit on losses. | 3% | 5% | 5% | 13% |
| Plain packaging for cigarettes | 3% | 4% | 5% | 12% |
| None of them | 13% | 3% | 3% | 13% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 1% | 2% | 8% |
The three most important decisions made by the Government were the mining tax, the carbon tax and the increase in compulsory superannuation.
Paid Parental Leave
Q. The Federal Government has recently passed legislation for paid parental leave which provides parents with 18 weeks of paid leave at the minimum wage of $543 a week. Do you approve or disapprove of this decision?
| Total approve | 55% |
| Total disapprove | 33% |
| Strongly approve | 21% |
| Approve | 34% |
| Disapprove | 18% |
| Strongly disapprove | 15% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
55% approved the Government’s paid parental leave scheme and 33% dispproved. Support was weaker among Liberal/National voters – 48% approve/43% disapprove. Labor voters split 64%/29% and Greens 68%/23%.
Younger respondent were much more supportive than older respondents – among those aged under 35, 75% approved and 9% disapproved.
41% of those aged 55+ approved and 53% disapproved. Women (58%/32%) were a little more supportive than men (53%/35%). Comments »
Parental leave policy
Q. The Opposition leader Tony Abbott has proposed a scheme to give new parents 26 weeks leave at their normal rate of pay to be paid for by a 1.7 per cent levy on large companies. The Rudd Government plans to introduce a scheme to give new parents 18 weeks leave at the minimum wage rate paid for by the Government. Which scheme do you support more?
| % | |
| The Government’s scheme | 40% |
| The Opposition’s scheme | 24% |
| Neither | 27% |
| Don’t know | 10% |
40% of respondents supported the Government parent leave scheme, 24% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 27% supported neither.
Among labor voters, 61% supported the Government scheme and 15% supported the Opposition’s. However, only 37% of Coalition voters supported the Opposition’s scheme – 20% supported the Government scheme and 35% supported neither.
Young people were more likely to support the Opposition’s scheme – of those aged under 35, 35% supported the Opposition’s scheme and 39% the Government’s. Older respondents were more likely to support neither scheme – of those aged 45-64, 36% supported neither scheme, 42% the Government scheme and 14% the Opposition’s. Men and women showed similar levels of support. Comments »
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