Australian manufacturing, economy, Greens, Labor, Liberal, manufacturing, manufacturing industry, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. A number of politicians have said about the manufacturing industry that Australia should be an economy that “makes things.” Do you agree or disagree?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total agree | 79% | 84% | 84% | 76% |
| Total disagree | 6% | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| Strongly agree | 25% | 27% | 27% | 16% |
| Agree | 54% | 57% | 57% | 60% |
| Disagree | 6% | 5% | 7% | 5% |
| Strongly disagree | * | * | – | 1% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 10% | 9% | 18% |
There was strong agreement with the idea that Australia should be an economy that “makes things”. 79% agreed and only 6% of respondents disagreed.
84% of both Labor and Liberal/National voters agreed – but generally results were similar across demographic groups.
2PP, ER, essential report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, two party preferred, voting, Voting intention
Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?
Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?
Sample size = 1,899 respondents
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
Last poll
(19.12.11) |
This week |
| Liberal | 45% | 45% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 47% | 48% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 35% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 9% | 9% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 8% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
Last poll | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 54% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 46% | 46% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from the first preference/leaning to voting questions. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results. The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2010 election.
Approval of Julia Gillard, Approval rating, Julia Gillard, PM, Polling, polls, Prime Minister
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| 19 Jul 2010 | 20 Dec 2010 | 14 Mar
2011 |
14 June | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | 14 Nov | 12 Dec | 16 Jan 2012 | |
| Total approve | 52% | 43% | 41% | 34% | 28% | 34% | 37% | 34% | 37% |
| Total disapprove | 30% | 40% | 46% | 54% | 64% | 59% | 55% | 54% | 52% |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 10% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 6% |
| Approve | 41% | 33% | 34% | 28% | 23% | 27% | 29% | 28% | 31% |
| Disapprove | 17% | 24% | 22% | 29% | 28% | 27% | 25% | 25% | 27% |
| Strongly disapprove | 13% | 16% | 24% | 25% | 36% | 32% | 30% | 29% | 25% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 17% | 13% | 13% | 8% | 7% | 9% | 11% | 12% |
Julia Gillard’s approval rating has improved a little since last month. 37% (up 3%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 52% (down 2%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -20 to -15 over the last 5 weeks. This is the best net rating for the Prime Minister since May last year.
76% of Labor voters approve (up 3%) and 15% disapprove (down 4%).
By gender – men 34% approve/57% disapprove, women 37% approve/47% disapprove.
Approval of Tony Abbott, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Opposition leader, Polling, polls, tony abbott
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| 18 Jan
2010 |
5 Jul
2010 |
20 Dec 2010 | 14 Mar
2011 |
14 June | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | 14 Nov | 12 Dec | 16 Jan 2012 | |
| Total approve | 37% | 37% | 39% | 38% | 38% | 39% | 40% | 36% | 32% | 35% |
| Total disapprove | 37% | 47% | 39% | 47% | 48% | 50% | 51% | 52% | 53% | 51% |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 8% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 7% |
| Approve | 32% | 29% | 30% | 31% | 32% | 31% | 32% | 30% | 26% | 28% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 23% | 21% | 24% | 25% | 23% | 23% | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 24% | 18% | 23% | 23% | 27% | 28% | 26% | 28% | 26% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 16% | 22% | 16% | 15% | 11% | 9% | 12% | 14% | 13% |
Tony Abbott’s approval rating has also improved a little over the last month. 35% (up 3%) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 51% (down 2%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -21 to -16 over the last 5 weeks.
68% (up 3%) of Coalition voters approve and 21% (down 1%) disapprove.
By gender – men 41% approve/49% disapprove, women 29% approve/53% disapprove.
Better Prime Minister, Greens, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Polling, polls, Prime Minister, tony abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 14 Mar | 14 June | 12 Sept | 17 Oct | 14 Nov | 12 Dec | 16 Jan 2012 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 44% | 41% | 36% | 38% | 41% | 39% | 39% | 83% | 5% | 69% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 33% | 36% | 40% | 39% | 36% | 35% | 36% | 5% | 76% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 23% | 24% | 26% | 25% | 12% | 20% | 27% |
39% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 36% prefer Tony Abbott – no significant change from last month’s result.
Men prefer Tony Abbott 41%/37% and women favour Julia Gillard 41%/31%.
2PP, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, two party preferred, voting, Voting intention
Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?
Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?
Sample size = 1,896 respondents
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 46% | 44% | 44% | 45% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 48% | 47% | 48% | 47% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 34% | 34% | 34% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 9% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 7% | 9% | 9% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 55% | 54% | 55% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 45% | 46% | 45% | 46% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from the first preference/leaning to voting questions. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results. The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2010 election.
2012, 2012 Outlook, Australian economy, economy, family, Personal financial situation, Polling, polls, workplace
Q. Thinking about the next 12 months, do you think 2012 will be a good or bad year for each of the following?
| Total good
Dec 10 |
Total bad
Dec10 |
Total good | Total bad | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know/Not applicable | |
| The Australian economy | 48% | 16% | 29% | 35% | 3% | 26% | 32% | 28% | 7% | 3% |
| Your personal financial situation | 39% | 20% | 33% | 27% | 4% | 29% | 38% | 20% | 7% | 2% |
| Your workplace * | 47% | 16% | 45% | 20% | 6% | 39% | 36% | 15% | 5% | 2% |
| You and your family overall | 51% | 14% | 52% | 16% | 10% | 42% | 30% | 12% | 4% | 2% |
* based on working people
Overall, respondents were optimistic that 2012 would be a good year for themselves overall (52%) and their workplace (45%). They tended to be less optimistic about their financial situation (33% good/27% bad) and somewhat pessimistic about the Australian economy (29%/35%).
Compared to expectations 12 months ago, respondents were much less optimistic about the Australian economy (48% good last year compared to 29% good this year) and also rather less optimistic about their own financial situation (39%/20% last year compared to 33%/27% this year).
When compared with last week’s questions on perceptions of 2011, these figures suggest that respondents expect 2012 to be better than 2011 for themselves and their family (net +36% for next year compared to net +24% for this year), a little better for their workplace (+25% next year, +20% last year) and their own financial situation (+6% next year, -2% this year). The Australian economy is expected to be a little worse in 2012 (-6% next year compared to +2% last year).
2012, 2012 Outlook, ALP, Labor Party, Liberal Party, LNP, political parties, Polling, polls, The Greens
Q. Do you think 2012 will be a good or bad year for each of the following political parties?
| Total good
Dec 10 |
Total bad
Dec10 |
Total good | Total bad | Very good | Good | Neither good nor bad | Bad | Very bad | Don’t know | |
| The Liberal Party | 35% | 18% | 36% | 24% | 8% | 28% | 28% | 17% | 7% | 12% |
| The Labor Party | 19% | 40% | 16% | 49% | 3% | 13% | 23% | 29% | 20% | 11% |
| The Greens | 22% | 29% | 17% | 37% | 2% | 15% | 32% | 20% | 17% | 13% |
Respondents expect that 2012 is likely to be a relatively good year for the Liberal Party (36% good/24% bad) and a bad year for the Labor Party (16%/49%) and the Greens (17%/37%).
Among their own voters, 67% expect the Liberals to have a good year, 38% expect Labor to have a good year and 67% expect the Greens to have a good year.
Compared to expectations 12 months ago, respondents were somewhat less positive about all political parties – The Liberal Party has dropped form net +17% to net +12%, the Labor Party from -21% to -33% and the Greens from -7% to -20%.
Comparing these results with last week’s questions about 2011, respondents expect the Liberal Party to have a better year (net +12% next year this year compared to net -3% this year), the Labor Party to have a similar year (-33% next year, -37% this year) and the Greens to have a much worse year (-20% next year, +4% this year).