favour the middle class, Favour the poor, favour the rich, iberal/National Coalition, Labor, policies
Q. In general, do you think the policies of the Liberal/National Coalition and the policies of Labor favour the rich, favour the middle class, favour the poor, or do they treat all groups equally?
|
Favour the rich |
Favour the average Australian |
Favour the poor |
Treat all groups equally |
Don’t know |
|
| The policies of the Liberal/National Coalition… |
54% |
16% |
5% |
13% |
12% |
| The policies of Labor… |
16% |
34% |
22% |
11% |
17% |
Just over half (54%) of Australians believe that the policies of the Lib/Nat Coalition favour the rich. 16% think they favour the average Australian, 5% think they favour the poor and 13% think they favour all groups equally.
The largest proportion of Australians (34%) think that the policies of Labor favour the average Australian. 16% think they favour the rich, 22% think they favour the poor and 11% think they treat all groups equally.
Labor and Green voters were more likely to think that the Lib/Nat’s favour the rich (81% each), and that Labor favour the average Australian (53% of Labor voters and 57% of Green voters).
There were no significant differences based on gender.
For a more detailed breakdown of this question, please download the Essential Report.
10 April 2012, 100412, ALP, financial interests, handling the economy, Labor, Labor Party, LIB, Liberal, Liberal Party, party, party policy, policies, Policy, Polling, polls, working families
Q. Which party – Labor or Liberal – do you think is best when it comes to:
|
Labor |
Liberal |
No difference |
Don’t know |
Difference |
|
| Representing the interests of Australian working families |
37% |
25% |
29% |
9% |
+12 |
| Representing the interests of you and people like you |
29% |
35% |
26% |
10% |
-6 |
| Standing up for the middle class in Australia |
26% |
33% |
30% |
11% |
-7 |
| Representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests |
10% |
54% |
25% |
11% |
-44 |
| Being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests |
37% |
22% |
30% |
11% |
+15 |
| Handling the economy overall |
22% |
41% |
26% |
10% |
-19 |
| Handling the economy in a way that tries to take the interests of working families into consideration as much as it takes the interests of the large corporate and financial groups |
29% |
34% |
25% |
12% |
-5 |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps small business |
22% |
40% |
25% |
13% |
-18 |
| Handling the economy in a way that best helps the middle class |
23% |
38% |
27% |
12% |
-15 |
| Handling the economy in a way that helps you and people like you the most. |
26% |
36% |
27% |
11% |
-10 |
Labor was considered best at representing the interests of Australian working families (37%) and being more concerned about the interests of working families in Australia than the rich and large business and financial interests (37%). The Liberals were considered best on all the other measures.
In particular, the Liberal Party was considered much better on representing the interests of the large corporate and financial interests (54%), handling the economy overall (41%) and handling the economy in a way that best helps small business (40%).
02 April 2012, 020412, active Government, Federal Government, financial groups, government, industrial groups, market, policies, Polling, polls, public services, Type of Government, unfair policies
Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| An active Government is necessary to provide important public services, and to protect ordinary Australians from unfair policies and practices on the part of large financial and/or industrial groups. |
67% |
82% |
59% |
82% |
| We don’t need big government and extensive regulation of business and finance to take care of these matters: the market itself can deal with many of these issues on their own. |
20% |
10% |
28% |
11% |
| Don’t know |
13% |
8% |
13% |
8% |
67% agree more that an active Government is necessary and 20% agree more with the view that the market can deal with many issues.
Strongest support for an active Government came from Labor and Greens voters (82%), women (70%) and aged under 25 (77%).
ALP, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Labor Party, Liberal, Nationals, policies, Policy, Polling, polls, The Greens
Q. How much difference do you think there is between the policies of the Labor Party and the Greens?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| They are completely different | 8% | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| Different on most issues | 15% | 15% | 16% | 26% |
| Different of some and similar on some | 41% | 54% | 33% | 47% |
| Similar on most issues | 14% | 7% | 22% | 8% |
| They are exactly the same | 5% | 2% | 7% | 1% |
| Don’t know | 17% | 13% | 13% | 5% |
19% think the Labor and Greens policies are similar or exactly the same, 23% think they are mostly or completely different and 41% think they are different on some and the similar on some issues.
Labor voters are more likely to think they are different on some and similar on some (54%), Liberal/National voters more likely to think they are similar or the same (29%) and Greens voters more likely to think they are different (38%).