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  • May, 2011

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    Early Election over Carbon Tax

    Q. Do you think the Government should call an early election over the carbon tax?

    28 March 31 May Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Yes 40% 42% 15% 71% 18%
    No 44% 42% 68% 19% 66%
    Don’t know 17% 16% 17% 11% 16%

    42% think the Government should call an early election over the carbon tax and 42% disagree. This is similar to the views recorded in the previous poll in March and is strongly associated with voting intention.

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  • May, 2011

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    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 = 1,881

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 43% 44% 43% 44%
    National 4% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6 47% 47% 46% 46%
    Labor 38.0 35% 35% 36% 34%
    Greens 11.8 10% 10% 11% 12%
    Other/Independent 6.6 8% 8% 7% 8%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 54% 54% 52% 53%
    Labor 50.1% 46% 46% 48% 47%

    NB.  The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived 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.

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  • May, 2011

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    Perceptions of Welfare

    Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

    Total agree Total disagree Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know
    Households earning more than $150,000 a year don’t need help through family payments 67% 27% 29% 38% 20% 7% 6%
    Households on high incomes pay high taxes so should get family payments for bringing up children 33% 61% 7% 26% 41% 20% 7%
    Welfare payments should only go to those on low incomes 66% 29% 23% 43% 23% 6% 5%
    All taxpayers, regardless of their income, should be eligible for some form of Government payment 35% 57% 8% 27% 36% 21% 8%
    Family payments aren’t really welfare – they just provide assistance for families raising children. 60% 32% 14% 46% 23% 9% 7%
    Welfare payments should be reduced for those who have been on them long term. 41% 48% 15% 26% 33% 15% 12%
    Welfare and family payments should be lower to encourage people to be more self-reliant and not rely so much on the Government 40% 50% 12% 28% 35% 15% 9%
    People on low incomes receiving welfare should have to justify how they spend it 47% 46% 13% 34% 31% 15% 6%
    Welfare for low-income families is different from family payments to middle-income families 61% 22% 14% 47% 18% 4% 17%
    The purpose of welfare payments is to reduce the difference in income between people with higher incomes and those with lower incomes 40% 49% 8% 32% 36% 13% 11%

    About two-thirds of respondents agreed that “Households earning more than $150,000 a year don’t need help through family payments” (67%) and “Welfare payments should only go to those on low incomes” (66%).  Although these statements were more strongly supported by Labor and Greens voters, 61% of Liberal/National voters agree that “Households earning more than $150,000 a year don’t need help through family payments”.

    For households earning under $100K, 77% agree “Households earning more than $150,000 a year don’t need help through family payments” and 73% agree “Welfare payments should only go to those on low incomes”.

    However, of households earning $150K+, 62% disagree that “Households earning more than $150,000 a year don’t need help through family payments” and 50% disagree that “Welfare payments should only go to those on low incomes”.

    Although most respondents (60%) think that family payments are different from welfare benefits, only 33% agree that “Households on high incomes pay high taxes so should get family payments for bringing up children”.

    Opinions are divided over issues regarding the obligations of people receiving welfare. 47% agree that “People on low incomes receiving welfare should have to justify how they spend it” and 46% disagree – 58% of Liberal/National voters agree but 55% of Labor voters disagree.

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  • May, 2011

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    Support for Carbon Pricing

    Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s recent announcement to introduce a carbon pricing scheme from 1 July 2012, which will require industries to pay a tax based on the amount of carbon pollution they emit?

    7 March 14 March 28 March 18 April Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total support 35% 38% 34% 39% 41% 63% 20% 86%
    Total oppose 48% 49% 51% 49% 44% 19% 75% 9%
    Strongly support 9% 12% 12% 13% 14% 22% 4% 47%
    Support 26% 26% 22% 26% 27% 41% 16% 39%
    Oppose 19% 17% 19% 15% 15% 10% 23% 4%
    Strongly oppose 29% 32% 32% 34% 29% 9% 52% 5%
    Don’t know 18% 13% 15% 12% 15% 19% 5% 5%

    41% (+2%) support the introduction of a carbon pricing scheme and 44% (-5%) oppose. This represents a 7% shift in opinion in favour of a carbon pricing scheme since last month and is the highest level of support and lowest level of opposition since the scheme was announced.

    Women support the scheme 44%/39%, while men oppose 51%/38%. Younger people tend to support the scheme (aged under 35 – 47% support/35% oppose) while older respondents strongly oppose (aged 55+ – 35% support/55% oppose)

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  • May, 2011

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    Awareness of Superannuation Plan

    Q. The Federal Government is proposing to increase superannuation payments from nine per cent to 12 per cent by 2019-20. How much have you heard about this proposal?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    A lot 4% 4% 4% 2%
    Something 13% 15% 13% 17%
    A little 27% 25% 32% 28%
    Nothing 53% 54% 50% 53%
    Don’t know 3% 2% 1%

    There was low awareness of the Government’s proposal to increase superannuation payments from nine per cent to 12 per cent by 2019-20 – only 17% say they have heard a lot or something about it.

    22% of full-time workers and 16% of part-time workers have heard a lot/something about it.

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  • May, 2011

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    Support for Superannuation Plan

    Q. Based on what you know, do you support or oppose the proposal to increase superannuation payments from nine per cent to 12 per cent by 2019-20?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total support 69% 77% 67% 78%
    Total oppose 13% 8% 20% 4%
    Strongly support 21% 27% 17% 30%
    Support 48% 50% 50% 48%
    Oppose 10% 7% 15% 4%
    Strongly oppose 3% 1% 5%
    Don’t know 18% 14% 13% 18%

    69% support the proposal to increase superannuation payments from nine per cent to 12 per cent by 2019-20 and 13% oppose.

    75% of full-time workers and 69% of part-time workers support the proposal.

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  • May, 2011

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    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 =1,871

    First preference/leaning to Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Liberal 43% 44% 44% 43%
    National 3% 3% 3% 3%
    Total Lib/Nat 43.6 47% 47% 47% 46%
    Labor 38.0 35% 35% 35% 36%
    Greens 11.8 11% 9% 10% 11%
    Other/Independent 6.6 8% 9% 8% 7%
    2PP Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago 2 weeks ago Last week This week
    Total Lib/Nat 49.9% 54% 54% 54% 52%
    Labor 50.1% 46% 46% 46% 48%

    NB.  The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived 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.

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  • May, 2011

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    Interest in Federal Budget

    Q. Thinking about the Federal Budget – how much attention did you pay to the Federal Budget?

    2009 2010 2011
    Total a lot/some 66% 53% 52%
    Total a little/none 31% 44% 45%
    A lot 29% 18% 19%
    Some 37% 35% 33%
    A little 25% 29% 31%
    None 6% 15% 14%
    Can’t say 3% 3% 2%

    Just over half (52%) of respondents said they paid a lot or some attention to the Federal Budget. This is much the same as the corresponding figure of 53% for last year’s budget.

    Those most interested were Liberal/National voters (64%) and people aged 55+ (63%). Only 42% of respondents aged 18-34 paid a lot or some attention to the budget.

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