050312, 5 March 2012, elect, Election, elections, Parliament, party elections, party leader, party leaders, Polling, polls
Q. Do you think party leaders should be elected mainly based on who voters favour or who the members of Parliament believe is the best person to lead their party?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
The person the voters favour |
56% |
52% |
62% |
40% |
The person members of Parliament believe best to lead the party |
30% |
35% |
28% |
49% |
Don’t know |
14% |
12% |
11% |
11% |
A majority of 56% think that party leaders should be elected mainly based on who voters favour and 30% think that the leadership should go to the person the members of Parliament believe is to lead their party.
Liberal/National voters are more likely to think the leader should be the person the voters favour (62%) while Greens voters tended to favour the person members of Parliament believe best (49%).
Older voters (aged 55+) were a little more likely to leave the judgment to the Parliamentarians although still prefer the person the voters favour 53% to 39%.
050312, 5 March 2012, Australian system, elect, Election, party elections, party leader, party leaders, Polling, polls, US system
Q. Which of the following do you think would be the best way to elect national party leaders?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
The Australian system where the leader is elected by the Members of Parliament |
36% |
45% |
36% |
45% |
The US system where registered voters in primaries elect the party’s candidate for President |
31% |
25% |
36% |
23% |
The UK system where MPs, party members (and in Labour’s case, union members from affiliated unions) all get to vote for the party leader |
11% |
10% |
8% |
15% |
Don’t know |
23% |
19% |
19% |
17% |
36% prefer the Australian system of electing the party leader – 31% prefer the US system and 11% the UK system.
Labor and Greens voters were more likely to prefer the Australian system (45%) and Liberal/National voters the US system (36%).
45% of people aged 55+ and 45% of those on income of $1,600+ pw favoured the Australian system.