Attitude to Bridget McKenzie’s resignation and grant allocation
Q. The Deputy Leader of the Nationals has resigned for having a conflict of interest in awarding a grant to a shooting club of which she was a member. Which of the following statements do you agree with?
NET: Agree | NET: Disagree | Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | Unsure | |
The investigation needs to continue to investigate any MP involved in the allocation of sports grants | 70% | 17% | 70% | 17% | 11% | 6% | 13% |
Giving grants to sports organisations in marginal seats was only done to influence the election result in the Governments favour | 66% | 16% | 36% | 30% | 12% | 5% | 18% |
The minister’s resignation should be the end of the matter | 49% | 38% | 24% | 26% | 20% | 18% | 13% |
NET: Agree | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | NET: Other | |
The investigation needs to continue to investigate any MP involved in the allocation of sports grants | 70% | 77% | 65% | 81% | 71% |
Giving grants to sports organisations in marginal seats was only done to influence the election result in the Governments favour | 66% | 76% | 56% | 70% | 73% |
The minister’s resignation should be the end of the matter | 49% | 44% | 61% | 44% | 44% |
Base (n) | 1,056 | 354 | 320 | 113 | 155 |
- 70% of participants agree that the investigation into the Deputy Nationals Leader needs to continue to investigate any MP involved in the allocation of sports grants. Half (49%) of participants agree that the minister’s resignation should be the end of the matter.
- Coalition voters are more likely to agree that the minister’s resignation should be the end of the matter (61%) than all other voters (44%).
- Additionally, Coalition voters are least likely to agree that the investigation needs to continue (65%) and giving grants to sports organisations in marginal seats was only done to influence the election result in the Governments favour (56%), than all other voters (76% and 74%).
Best Leader of the Labor Party
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Labor Party?
30 May 2011 |
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Julia Gillard |
23% |
16% |
40% |
4% |
21% |
Kevin Rudd |
32% |
31% |
33% |
32% |
32% |
Wayne Swan |
2% |
4% |
6% |
4% |
5% |
Greg Combet |
4% |
2% |
1% |
2% |
2% |
Bill Shorten |
3% |
6% |
8% |
5% |
3% |
Someone else |
19% |
23% |
6% |
33% |
18% |
Don’t know |
17% |
17% |
6% |
19% |
19% |
33% think Kevin Rudd would make the best leader of the Labor Party and 16% prefer Julia Gillard. This represents declines of 1% for Kevin Rudd and 7% for Julia Gillard since this question was asked nearly 12 months ago. Those selecting “someone else” has increased from 19% to 23%.
Julia Gillard is preferred by 40% of Labor voters compared to 33% for Kevin Rudd. Men prefer Kevin Rudd over Julia Gillard 33% to 16% and women by 28% to 17%.
Best Leader of the Liberal Party
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
27 Sep 2010 |
28 Feb 2011 |
30 May 2011 |
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Tony Abbott |
26% |
24% |
22% |
23% |
11% |
39% |
3% |
Malcolm Turnbull |
20% |
18% |
25% |
30% |
37% |
26% |
53% |
Joe Hockey |
15% |
16% |
17% |
14% |
12% |
17% |
12% |
Julie Bishop |
5% |
4% |
3% |
5% |
4% |
5% |
5% |
Andrew Robb |
na |
1% |
1% |
1% |
2% |
1% |
– |
Someone else |
na |
14% |
13% |
12% |
16% |
6% |
18% |
Don’t know |
33% |
22% |
19% |
16% |
18% |
7% |
10 |
30% (+5%) think Malcolm Turnbull would make the best leader of the Liberal Party, 23% (+1%) prefer Tony Abbott and 14% (-3%) Joe Hockey.
Among Liberal/National voters, 39% (-1%) prefer Tony Abbott, 26% (+7%) Malcolm Turnbull and 17% (-5%) Joe Hockey.
Malcolm Turnbull is preferred by 33% of men and 28% of women, Tony Abbott by 26% of men and 19% of women.
Performance during Leadership Challenge
Q. How would you rate the performance of the following during the Labor leadership challenge?
Total good |
Total poor |
Very good |
Good |
Average |
Poor |
Very poor |
Don’t know |
|
Julia Gillard |
23% |
49% |
10% |
13% |
24% |
17% |
32% |
4% |
Kevin Rudd |
33% |
35% |
12% |
21% |
27% |
16% |
19% |
4% |
Labor Party Ministers |
10% |
52% |
2% |
8% |
30% |
25% |
27% |
8% |
Tony Abbott |
25% |
40% |
9% |
16% |
27% |
18% |
22% |
8% |
The media |
14% |
43% |
3% |
11% |
35% |
20% |
23% |
6% |
Apart from Kevin Rudd, the performance of all parties to the leadership challenge were rated poorly.
33% thought the performance of Kevin Rudd was good and 35% poor. For Julia Gillard the rating was 23% good and 49% poor. Labor Party Ministers were rated most negatively – 10% good and 52% poor.
However, Julia Gillard was rated a little better than Kevin Rudd by Labor voters – their rating of Julia Gillard was 50% good/15% poor compared to 49% good/22% poor for Kevin Rudd.
Leaders at the Next Election
Q. Do you think Julia Gillard will still be leading the Labor Party at the election due next year?
Q. Do you think Tony Abbott will still be leading the Liberal Party at the election due next year?
Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | ||
Julia Gillard | Yes | 31% | 54% | 19% | 43% |
No | 47% | 22% | 70% | 26% | |
Don’t know | 22% | 24% | 11% | 31% | |
Tony Abbott | Yes | 47% | 37% | 67% | 34% |
No | 25% | 37% | 12% | 31% | |
Don’t know | 28% | 26% | 21% | 35% |
31% think Julia Gillard will still be the leader of the Labor Party at the election due next year and 47% think she will not be the leader. Opinions are closely associated with party preference. 54% of Labor voters think she will still be the leader.
47% think Tony Abbott will still be the leader of the Liberal Party at the election due next year and 25% think he will not be the leader. Opinions are closely associated with party preference. 67% of Liberal/National voters think he will still be the leader.
Among non-major party voters, 36% think Julia Gillard will still be leading the Labor Party and 33% think Tony Abbott will still be leading the Liberal Party.

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