The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , , , , , ,

    2012 Outlook – Politicians

    Q. Do you think 2012 will be a good or bad year for each of the following politicians?

    Total good

    Dec 10

    Total bad

    Dec10

    Total good Total bad Very good Good Neither good nor bad Bad Very bad Don’t know
    Julia Gillard 28% 36% 19% 56% 4% 15% 17% 29% 27% 9%
    Tony Abbott 29% 27% 24% 38% 6% 18% 29% 24% 14% 10%
    Kevin Rudd 21% 30% 30% 25% 5% 25% 35% 17% 8% 10%
    Malcolm Turnbull 20% 21% 22% 22% 3% 19% 42% 17% 5% 14%
    Bob Brown 20% 30% 16% 39% 2% 14% 31% 20% 19% 14%

    Overall, there were negative expectations for the three party leaders – Julia Gillard (-37% net), Tony Abbott (-14%) and Bob Brown (-23%) while respondents were more evenly divided over Kevin Rudd (+5%) and Malcolm Turnbull (-).

    45% of Labor voters expect Julia Gillard to have a good year and 47% of Liberal/National voters expect Tony Abbott to have a good year.

    Compared to expectations 12 months ago, respondents were somewhat less positive about all party leaders – Julia Gillard has dropped form net -8% to net -37%, Tony Abbott from +2% to -14% and Bob Brown from -10% to -23%.

    Comparing these results with last week’s questions, respondents expect 2012 to be similar 2011 for Julia Gillard (net -37% next year compared to -36% this year) and Tony Abbott (-14% next year, -17% this year). However, Bob Brown is expected to have a worse year in 2012 (net -23%) than this year (+5%).

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Leaders in 12 Months

    Q. Do you think Julia Gillard will still be leading the Labor Party in 12 months time?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Yes 26% 49% 12% 37%
    No 55% 31% 76% 45%
    Don’t know 19% 21% 12% 18%

    Q. Do you think Tony Abbott will still be leading the Liberal Party in 12 months time?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Yes 41% 26% 64% 29%
    No 34% 53% 16% 53%
    Don’t know 25% 21% 20% 18%

    Only 26% believe that Julia Gillard will still be leader of the Labor Party in 12 months time and 55% think she will not. Respondents were more likely to think that Tony Abbott would still be leading his party (41% yes, 34% no).

    49% of Labor voters think Julia Gillard will still be leading her party, compared to 64% of Liberal/National voters who think Tony Abbott will still be leading his party.

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , , , ,

    Performance of Australian Economy

    Q. How do you think the Australian economy is performing in comparison to other developed countries?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total better 73% 84% 72% 80%
    Total worse 7% 3% 8% 1%
    A lot better 27% 44% 19% 32%
    A little better 46% 40% 53% 48%
    About the same 16% 13% 16% 12%
    A little worse 5% 2% 5% 1%
    A lot worse 2% 1% 3%
    Don’t know 4% 1% 3% 6%

    If ‘a lot better’ or ‘a little better’ –

    Q. How much credit do the following deserve for the current performance of Australia’s economy?

    A lot Some A little None Don’t know
    The Federal Labor Government 18% 31% 23% 21% 6%
    The previous Coalition Government 21% 31% 26% 15% 6%
    The booming resources sector 47% 31% 12% 3% 7%
    The Reserve Bank 6% 42% 29% 13% 9%

    73% think that the Australian economy is performing better than other developed countries and only 7% think it is performing worse.

    Respondents give most credit for the performance of the economy to the booming resources sector (78% a lot or some credit). They give similar credit to the Labor Government (49%) and the previous Coalition Government (52%).

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , , , , ,

    Federal Election

    Q. Do you expect that an early Federal election will be held in 2012?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Yes 32% 24% 42% 26%
    No 42% 55% 37% 50%
    Don’t know 26% 21% 21% 23%

    Respondents were more likely to think there will not be a Federal election next year – 32% expect there will be an election and 42% think there will not.

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Federal politics – 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 = 1,921 respondents

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 44% 45% 44% 44%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6% 47% 48% 47% 48%
    Labor 38.0% 35% 34% 34% 34%
    Greens 11.8% 10% 11% 10% 10%
    Other/Independent 6.6% 8% 8% 9% 9%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 54% 54% 54% 55%
    Labor 50.1% 46% 46% 46% 45%

    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.

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , , ,

    Approval of Julia Gillard

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?

    19 Jul 2010 20 Dec 2010 14 Mar 14 June 12 Sept 17 Oct 14 Nov 12 Dec
    Total approve 52% 43% 41% 34% 28% 34% 37% 34%
    Total disapprove 30% 40% 46% 54% 64% 59% 55% 54%
    Strongly approve 11% 10% 7% 6% 5% 7% 8% 6%
    Approve 41% 33% 34% 28% 23% 27% 29% 28%
    Disapprove 17% 24% 22% 29% 28% 27% 25% 25%
    Strongly disapprove 13% 16% 24% 25% 36% 32% 30% 29%
    Don’t know 18% 17% 13% 13% 8% 7% 9% 11%

    Julia Gillard’s approval rating has declined a little since last month. 34% (down 3%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 54% (down 1%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -18 to -20 over the last 4 weeks.

    73% of Labor voters approve (down 8%) and 19% disapprove (up 3%).

    By gender – men 38% approve/55% disapprove, women 32% approve/53% disapprove.

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , ,

    Approval of 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 14 June 12 Sept 17 Oct 14 Nov 12 Dec
    Total approve 37% 37% 39% 38% 38% 39% 40% 36% 32%
    Total disapprove 37% 47% 39% 47% 48% 50% 51% 52% 53%
    Strongly approve 5% 8% 9% 7% 6% 8% 8% 6% 6%
    Approve 32% 29% 30% 31% 32% 31% 32% 30% 26%
    Disapprove 20% 23% 21% 24% 25% 23% 23% 26% 25%
    Strongly disapprove 17% 24% 18% 23% 23% 27% 28% 26% 28%
    Don’t know 26% 16% 22% 16% 15% 11% 9% 12% 14%

    Tony Abbott’s approval rating has fallen again over the last month. 32% (down 4%) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 53% (up 1%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -16 to -21 over the last 4 weeks. This is the lowest rating recorded for Tony Abbott since he became opposition leader.

    65% (down 8%) of Coalition voters approve and 22% (up 3%) disapprove.

    By gender – men 36% approve/52% disapprove, women 29% approve/55% disapprove.

    Comments »

  • Dec, 2011

    , , , , , ,

    Better Prime Minister

    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 Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Julia Gillard 53% 44% 41% 36% 38% 41% 39% 81% 5% 74%
    Tony Abbott 26% 33% 36% 40% 39% 36% 35% 5% 72% 3%
    Don’t know 21% 23% 24% 24% 23% 24% 26% 14% 23% 23%

    39% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 35% prefer Tony Abbott – no significant change from last month’s result.

    Men prefer Julia Gillard 40%/38% and women favour Julia Gillard 38%/32%.

    Comments »

Error: