Election, fair work, Greens, IR, Labor, Liberals, Nationals, poll, Polling, rights at work, work, WorkChoices, workers
Q. If the Liberals won the election and reintroduced WorkChoices or similar laws, how concerned would you be?
| 31 May 10 | 12 July 10 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Very concerned | 28% | 29% | 26% | 53% | 4% | 54% |
| Quite concerned | 17% | 19% | 15% | 22% | 11% | 15% |
| A little concerned | 20% | 16% | 20% | 12% | 24% | 21% |
| Not concerned | 24% | 25% | 27% | 6% | 52% | 6% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 11% | 11% | 7% | 9% | 4% |
Respondents were also less concerned about the re-introduction of WorkChoices than last year. 41% (down 7%) would be quite or very concerned if WorkChoices or similar laws were re-introduced and 47% (up 6%) were only a little or not concerned.
75% of Labor voters and 69% of Greens voters would be concerned. 76% of Liberal/National voters would be a little/not concerned and 15% concerned. Those most concerned were aged 25-34 (47%) and aged 45-54 (48%).
ER, Essential Report, Exporting Uranium, Greens, India, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, polls, trade, Uranium, uranium export
Q. Do you support or oppose the proposal for Australia to export uranium to India?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 30% | 31% | 35% | 17% |
| Total oppose | 45% | 40% | 47% | 66% |
| Strongly support | 7% | 6% | 10% | 1% |
| Support | 23% | 25% | 25% | 16% |
| Oppose | 24% | 25% | 25% | 30% |
| Strongly oppose | 21% | 15% | 22% | 36% |
| Don’t know | 25% | 28% | 17% | 17% |
30% support the proposal for Australia to export uranium to India and 45% oppose – 25% had no opinion. All voter groups were more likely to oppose the sale of uranium to India.
All age groups were more likely to oppose the proposal – and men were split 43% support to 41% oppose, compared to women 18% support/49% oppose.
electricity, ER, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Nuclear Power, nuclear power plants, Polling
Q. Do you support or oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity?
| 27 Jan 2009 | 20 Dec 2010 | 21 Mar 2011 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 43% | 43% | 35% | 39% | 31% | 50% | 27% |
| Total oppose | 35% | 37% | 53% | 45% | 53% | 37% | 68% |
| Strongly support | 14% | 16% | 12% | 13% | 7% | 20% | 9% |
| Support | 29% | 27% | 23% | 26% | 24% | 30% | 18% |
| Oppose | 21% | 21% | 21% | 22% | 27% | 18% | 25% |
| Strongly oppose | 14% | 16% | 32% | 23% | 26% | 19% | 43% |
| Don’t know | 22% | 19% | 13% | 16% | 16% | 13% | 6% |
45% oppose Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity and 39% support. This is a considerable shift in opinion since this question was last asked in March following the problems with the nuclear power plants in Japan after the tsunami. However, there remains net opposition to nuclear power plants – compared to net support in surveys conducted in 2009 and 2010.
Those that intend to vote Lib/Nat were more likely to support (50%) than oppose (37%) Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity.
There was majority opposition from Labor (53% oppose or strongly oppose) and the Greens (68% oppose or strongly oppose).
There is a considerable difference between the attitudes of males and females towards nuclear power plants – 56% of males, compared to just 24% of females support or strongly support Australia developing nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity.
2PP, Essential Report, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, two party preferred, 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 = 1,898 respondents
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 45% | 44% | 43% | 44% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 48% | 47% | 46% | 47% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 33% | 34% | 35% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 55% | 55% | 54% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 45% | 45% | 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 PM, Essential Report, Julia Gillard, Labor, Polling
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 | |
| Total approve | 52% | 43% | 41% | 34% | 28% | 34% | 37% |
| Total disapprove | 30% | 40% | 46% | 54% | 64% | 59% | 55% |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 10% | 7% | 6% | 5% | 7% | 8% |
| Approve | 41% | 33% | 34% | 28% | 23% | 27% | 29% |
| Disapprove | 17% | 24% | 22% | 29% | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 13% | 16% | 24% | 25% | 36% | 32% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 17% | 13% | 13% | 8% | 7% | 9% |
Julia Gillard’s approval rating has continued the improvement shown last month. 37% (up 3%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 55% (down 4%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -25 to -18 over the last 4 weeks. This represents Julia Gillard’s best ratings since May.
81% of Labor voters approve (up 7%) and 16% disapprove (down 5%).
By gender – men 37% approve/57% disapprove, women 36% approve/52% disapprove.
Approval of opposition leader, Essential Report, Liberal, Polling, 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 | |
| Total approve | 37% | 37% | 39% | 38% | 38% | 39% | 40% | 36% |
| Total disapprove | 37% | 47% | 39% | 47% | 48% | 50% | 51% | 52% |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 8% | 8% | 6% |
| Approve | 32% | 29% | 30% | 31% | 32% | 31% | 32% | 30% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 23% | 21% | 24% | 25% | 23% | 23% | 26% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 24% | 18% | 23% | 23% | 27% | 28% | 26% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 16% | 22% | 16% | 15% | 11% | 9% | 12% |
Tony Abbott’s approval rating has fallen over the last month. 36% (down 4%) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 52% (up 1%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -11 to -16 over the last 4 weeks. This is the lowest rating recorded for Tony Abbott since he became opposition leader.
73% (down 5%) of Coalition voters approve and 19% (up 3%) disapprove.
By gender – men 39% approve/52% disapprove, women 33% approve/51% disapprove.
Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Polling, 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 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 44% | 41% | 36% | 38% | 41% | 83% | 7% | 80% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 33% | 36% | 40% | 39% | 36% | 5% | 73% | 4% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 23% | 24% | 12% | 20% | 17% |
41% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 36% prefer Tony Abbott – a net improvement for Julia Gillard of 6% on last month’s figures (from -1% to +5%). This is the best result for Julia Gillard since June.
Men are evenly split 39%/39% and women favour Julia Gillard 42%/33%.
Australia, Essential Report, International relationships, Polling
Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?
| Very important | Quite important | Not very important | Don’t know | Very Important 28 Mar | Change | ||
| New Zealand | 61% | 31% | 5% | 3% | 69% | -8 | |
| United States | 55% | 37% | 4% | 3% | 60% | -5 | |
| China | 48% | 44% | 5% | 3% | 48% | – | |
| United Kingdom | 47% | 43% | 7% | 3% | 56% | -9 | |
| Japan | 32% | 53% | 11% | 4% | 39% | -7 | |
| Indonesia | 27% | 49% | 19% | 5% | 31% | -4 | |
| India | 23% | 48% | 24% | 6% | 26% | -3 | |
| Germany | 18% | 44% | 32% | 6% | 23% | -5 | |
| South Africa | 12% | 37% | 42% | 8% | 16% | -4 |
More than half the respondents think it is very important to have close relationships with the New Zealand (61%) and the United States (55%) and just under half think it is very important to have a close relationship with the China (48%) and the United Kingdom (47%).
A close relationship with the United States is considered very important by 60% of Liberal/National voters, 58% of Labor voters and 42% of Greens voters.
Since this question was asked in March, there have been substantial decreases in the rating of the importance of relations with New Zealand (-8%), United Kingdom (-9%) and Japan (-7%). The importance of relations with all other listed countries has also fallen a little – with the exception of China which is unchanged. China is now ranked above United Kingdom in importance.