Q. Do you approve or disapprove of raising the pension age to 70 years by 2035?
| Total | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | April 2014 | |||
| Total approve | 21% | 26% | 16% | 20% | 16% | 28% | 20% | ||
| Total disapprove | 69% | 63% | 73% | 65% | 74% | 63% | 71% | ||
| Strongly approve | 5% | 7% | 3% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 4% | ||
| Approve | 16% | 19% | 13% | 16% | 11% | 22% | 16% | ||
| Disapprove | 30% | 26% | 33% | 29% | 29% | 31% | 31% | ||
| Strongly disapprove | 39% | 37% | 40% | 36% | 45% | 32% | 40% | ||
| Don’t know | 11% | 12% | 11% | 16% | 10% | 9% | 9% |
Only 21% approve of the raising the pension age to 70 years and 69% disapprove. Women (73%) are more likely to disapprove than men (63%). There were not major differences by income.
budget 2014, Deregulation of university fees, Federal Budget, Medicare co-payment, pension age, TAFE, youth allowance
Q. Do you support or oppose the following decisions that were made in the latest Federal Budget, announced on Tuesday 13th May:
|
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
Strongly support |
Support |
Neither support nor oppose |
Oppose |
Strongly oppose |
Don’t know |
|
| Deregulation of university fees (meaning universities can set their own tuition fees) |
17% |
58% |
5% |
12% |
21% |
24% |
34% |
4% |
| Commonwealth funding extended to students at TAFEs, private colleges and sub-bachelor degrees at a cost of $820 million over three years |
43% |
20% |
9% |
34% |
30% |
10% |
10% |
7% |
| $7 Medicare co-payment for all visits to the GP, with this money to be used to fund a Medical Research Future Fund. |
29% |
50% |
7% |
22% |
18% |
18% |
32% |
2% |
| General patients to pay $5 more and concessional patients 80¢ more for prescription drugs. |
23% |
58% |
5% |
18% |
18% |
26% |
32% |
2% |
| Eligibility for the age pension to rise to 70 by 2035 |
17% |
61% |
4% |
13% |
20% |
22% |
39% |
3% |
| A six-month waiting period for those under-30 before they can access the dole (Newstart) |
39% |
41% |
16% |
23% |
17% |
19% |
22% |
3% |
| Tightening eligibility criteria for disability support pensioners for those under 35 |
42% |
33% |
12% |
30% |
21% |
16% |
17% |
4% |
| University graduates to repay HELP debt once they earn $50,638 (reduced from $53,345) |
53% |
23% |
16% |
37% |
22% |
12% |
11% |
3% |
| Cut 16,500 full-time jobs from the public service in the next 3 years |
31% |
43% |
10% |
21% |
22% |
20% |
23% |
4% |
| Privatise the Royal Australian Mint |
18% |
42% |
4% |
14% |
31% |
18% |
24% |
10% |
| Make those under 25 apply for Youth Allowance, instead of Newstart (Youth Allowance is around $100 less per fortnight |
44% |
32% |
13% |
31% |
21% |
16% |
16% |
3% |
Q. Do you support or oppose the following decisions that were made in the latest Federal Budget, announced on Tuesday 13th May:
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Green |
||||
|
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
|
| Deregulation of university fees (meaning universities can set their own tuition fees) |
8% |
81% |
28% |
35% |
14% |
69% |
| Commonwealth funding extended to students at TAFEs, private colleges and sub-bachelor degrees at a cost of $820 million over three years |
37% |
27% |
54% |
13% |
49% |
8% |
| $7 Medicare co-payment for all visits to the GP, with this money to be used to fund a Medical Research Future Fund. |
10% |
74% |
56% |
21% |
18% |
67% |
| General patients to pay $5 more and concessional patients 80¢ more for prescription drugs. |
10% |
77% |
42% |
28% |
13% |
69% |
| Eligibility for the age pension to rise to 70 by 2035 |
7% |
80% |
31% |
37% |
13% |
62% |
| A six-month waiting period for those under-30 before they can access the dole (Newstart) |
24% |
60% |
65% |
15% |
17% |
64% |
| Tightening eligibility criteria for disability support pensioners for those under 35 |
32% |
49% |
62% |
15% |
26% |
46% |
| University graduates to repay HELP debt once they earn $50,638 (reduced from $53,345) |
39% |
36% |
74% |
8% |
40% |
33% |
| Cut 16,500 full-time jobs from the public service in the next 3 years |
15% |
64% |
57% |
16% |
18% |
59% |
| Privatise the Royal Australian Mint |
12% |
55% |
26% |
26% |
14% |
53% |
| Make those under 25 apply for Youth Allowance, instead of Newstart (Youth Allowance is around $100 less per fortnight |
25% |
52% |
72% |
8% |
28% |
47% |
Q. Do you support or oppose the following decisions that were made in the latest Federal Budget, announced on Tuesday 13th May:
|
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
Strongly support |
Support |
Neither support nor oppose |
Oppose |
Strongly oppose |
Don’t know |
|
| Spend $525 on a “green army” |
18% |
24% |
3% |
15% |
37% |
13% |
11% |
21% |
| Invest $2.1 million in solar projects in local communities |
59% |
11% |
15% |
44% |
25% |
7% |
4% |
6% |
| $100 million for mobile blackspot and wireless coverage in regional areas |
60% |
11% |
15% |
45% |
26% |
7% |
4% |
4% |
| A $120M cut to the ABC’s budget |
27% |
41% |
10% |
17% |
26% |
20% |
21% |
7% |
| Asylum seekers who have arrived by boat will lose the right to have their case independently reviewed or to have family reunions |
48% |
27% |
25% |
23% |
19% |
14% |
13% |
5% |
| Foreign aid frozen at current levels for two years, helping save $7.6 billion over five years |
64% |
13% |
28% |
36% |
18% |
6% |
7% |
5% |
| International commitment to spend 0.5 per cent of gross national income on foreign aid abandoned |
44% |
20% |
15% |
29% |
27% |
10% |
10% |
8% |
| $3.9bn over five years for major roads in Melbourne, Perth, Toowoomba, Adelaide and the Northern Territory |
55% |
15% |
13% |
42% |
26% |
9% |
6% |
5% |
| The HELP debt interest rate changed from CPI to the long term bond rate (an increase of around 1%) |
24% |
31% |
7% |
17% |
35% |
17% |
14% |
12% |
| Cut public funding for university courses by 20% |
18% |
49% |
5% |
13% |
29% |
25% |
24% |
4% |
Q. Do you support or oppose the following decisions that were made in the latest Federal Budget, announced on Tuesday 13th May:
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Green |
||||
|
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
Total Support |
Total Oppose |
|
| Spend $525 on a “green army” |
13% |
32% |
26% |
18% |
20% |
12% |
| Invest $2.1 million in solar projects in local communities |
59% |
11% |
61% |
11% |
77% |
3% |
| $100 million for mobile blackspot and wireless coverage in regional areas |
56% |
14% |
72% |
6% |
54% |
8% |
| A $120M cut to the ABC’s budget |
14% |
56% |
48% |
21% |
9% |
72% |
| Asylum seekers who have arrived by boat will lose the right to have their case independently reviewed or to have family reunions |
36% |
39% |
71% |
9% |
22% |
54% |
| Foreign aid frozen at current levels for two years, helping save $7.6 billion over five years |
52% |
22% |
83% |
3% |
51% |
33% |
| International commitment to spend 0.5 per cent of gross national income on foreign aid abandoned |
32% |
29% |
64% |
8% |
23% |
49% |
| $3.9bn over five years for major roads in Melbourne, Perth, Toowoomba, Adelaide and the Northern Territory |
49% |
19% |
70% |
7% |
42% |
27% |
| The HELP debt interest rate changed from CPI to the long term bond rate (an increase of around 1%) |
13% |
44% |
40% |
14% |
17% |
51% |
| Cut public funding for university courses by 20% |
8% |
66% |
32% |
28% |
12% |
71% |
The highest levels of opposition were registered for:
The items that more than 50% of Australians supported were:
The tables included demonstrate the various differences by voting intention.
70, age pension, pension, pension age, Raising pension age
Q. Would you approve or disapprove of raising the pension age to 70?
|
Total
|
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
| Total approve |
20% |
14% |
31% |
15% |
20% |
|
| Total disapprove |
71% |
80% |
60% |
72% |
73% |
|
| Strongly approve |
4% |
5% |
6% |
2% |
4% |
|
| Approve |
16% |
9% |
25% |
13% |
16% |
|
| Disapprove |
31% |
26% |
33% |
41% |
32% |
|
| Strongly disapprove |
40% |
54% |
27% |
31% |
41% |
|
| Don’t know |
9% |
6% |
9% |
12% |
6% |
71% disapprove of raising the pension age to 70 and 20% approve.
Although a majority of all demographic and voters groups disapproved, those more likely to approve were Liberal/National voters (31%), men (26%) and aged 65+ (32%).
Those more likely to disapprove were women (77%) and aged 45-64 (81%).