2PP, Election, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, federal politics, 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 =1,857
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 43% | 43% | 43% | 44% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 4% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6 | 46% | 47% | 47% | 47% |
| Labor | 38.0 | 36% | 35% | 35% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8 | 10% | 11% | 10% | 9% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6 | 8% | 8% | 8% | 9% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 53% | 54% | 54% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 47% | 46% | 46% | 46% |
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.
EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Interest in Federal Politics, Interest in Politics, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Politics, Polling, polls
Q. When it comes to following Federal politics, which best describes you?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | |
| I follow it closely | 10% | 12% | 13% | 8% | 7% | 10% | 17% |
| I follow it enough to know what’s happening | 45% | 46% | 49% | 45% | 30% | 49% | 57% |
| I follow it when something big is happening | 18% | 19% | 20% | 24% | 27% | 14% | 15% |
| I only pay attention when there’s an election | 8% | 7% | 9% | 6% | 13% | 8% | 3% |
| I have no interest in politics | 14% | 14% | 8% | 15% | 17% | 16% | 6% |
| Can’t say | 4% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 6% | 4% | 2% |
55% say they follow Federal politics closely or enough to know what’s happening, 26% follow it only at elections or when something big is happening and 14% have no interest in politics.
Older respondents tended to follow Federal politics more closely than younger respondents – 74% of those aged 55+ follow it closely or enough to know what’s happening compared to only 37% of those aged 18-34. Greens voters (53%) were a little less likely to follow politics than Labor (58%) or Liberal/National voters (62%).
EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, federal politics, Greens, Interest in Federal Politics, Interest in Politics, Labor, Liberals, Nationals, Polling, polls
Q. Over the last few years has your interest in following Federal politics increased or decreased?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | |
| Total increased | 29% | 30% | 35% | 32% | 37% | 26% | 25% |
| Total decreased | 11% | 11% | 6% | 15% | 11% | 12% | 11% |
| Increased a lot | 8% | 10% | 10% | 7% | 11% | 7% | 8% |
| Increased a little | 21% | 20% | 25% | 25% | 26% | 19% | 17% |
| Stayed much the same | 56% | 56% | 59% | 54% | 47% | 60% | 62% |
| Decreased a little | 6% | 7% | 4% | 7% | 4% | 6% | 8% |
| Decreased a lot | 5% | 4% | 2% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 3% |
| Can’t say | 4% | 3% | * | – | 7% | 3% | 1% |
56% say their interest in following Federal politics has stayed much the same, 29% have more interest and 11% less interest.
Respondents aged 18-34 were more likely to have more interest in following Federal politics (37%) while older voters’ interest was more likely to have stayed much the same.
ABC radio, ABC TV, Commercial radio, Commercial TV, Daily newspapers, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, media, News, Polling, polls, SBS, Sky News, the media, trust in media
Q. How much would you say you trust each of the following media sources to provide you with the news and information you want about Australian politics?
| A lot/some trust | |||||||||||
| Total a lot/some trust | Total not much/no trust | A lot of trust | Some trust | Not much trust | No trust at all | Don’t know | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | ||
| ABC TV | 76% | 15% | 29% | 47% | 9% | 6% | 9% | 73% | 77% | 79% | |
| SBS | 70% | 15% | 24% | 46% | 10% | 5% | 15% | 69% | 72% | 67% | |
| ABC radio | 69% | 17% | 25% | 44% | 11% | 6% | 14% | 66% | 71% | 71% | |
| Daily newspapers | 53% | 40% | 6% | 47% | 31% | 9% | 7% | 52% | 53% | 52% | |
| Commercial TV | 45% | 48% | 4% | 41% | 35% | 13% | 7% | 42% | 48% | 44% | |
| Sky News | 41% | 25% | 7% | 34% | 17% | 8% | 34% | 46% | 42% | 34% | |
| Commercial radio | 40% | 48% | 4% | 36% | 34% | 14% | 12% | 34% | 44% | 41% | |
The most trusted media for news and information about politics were ABC TV (76%), SBS (70%) and ABC radio (69%). The least trusted were commercial radio and commercial TV (both 48% not much or no trust).
Those aged 18-34 tended to have more trust in Sky News (46%) but less trust in commercial radio (34%).
The major differences by voting intention were that Liberal/National voters have more trust in commercial TV (52%), Sky News (48%) and commercial radio (49%).
EMC, ER, Essential Media, Esssential Report, government in the media, media, News, Perceptions of Media, politics in the media, Polling, polls, the media
Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
| Total agree | Total disagree | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | |
| The media usually reports the news accurately | 35% | 54% | 2% | 33% | 41% | 13% | 12% |
| The media usually reports all sides of a story | 21% | 69% | 1% | 20% | 46% | 23% | 10% |
| The media is too critical of government and politicians in Australia | 29% | 57% | 4% | 25% | 46% | 11% | 14% |
| These days I rely more on the internet than newspapers and TV for my news and information about politics. | 44% | 46% | 12% | 32% | 37% | 9% | 10% |
| I trust the media more than I trust politicians | 37% | 43% | 4% | 33% | 33% | 10% | 20% |
| I trust politicians more than I trust the media | 16% | 65% | 1% | 15% | 44% | 21% | 18% |
| The media does a good job of scrutinizing politics and holding politicians accountable | 45% | 43% | 3% | 42% | 31% | 12% | 12% |
| Overall, the media are politically biased in favour of the Liberal Party | 19% | 55% | 4% | 15% | 44% | 11% | 26% |
| Overall, the media are politically biased in favour of the Labor Party | 23% | 50% | 5% | 18% | 41% | 9% | 25% |
| The media are too focused on personalities and not enough on policies | 70% | 18% | 21% | 49% | 15% | 3% | 12% |
| There is too much coverage of politics in the media | 34% | 52% | 7% | 27% | 45% | 7% | 14% |
| The media does a good job of helping people to understand political and social issues | 40% | 48% | 2% | 38% | 36% | 12% | 12% |
| I follow the news closely every day | 57% | 38% | 10% | 47% | 32% | 6% | 6% |
The majority of respondents disagree that the media usually reports all sides of a story (69%) and that the media reports the news accurately (54%).
However, they tend to trust the media a little more than they trust politicians – 37% agree they trust the media more and 16% agree they trust politicians more.
The results also indicate that respondents want more rather than less coverage of politics – only 34% agree that there is too much coverage of politics and 57% disagree that the media is too critical of government and politicians.
Respondents were divided over whether the media does a good job of scrutinizing politics and holding politicians accountable (45% agree/43% disagree) and tended to disagree that the media does a good job of helping people to understand political and social issues (40% agree/48% disagree).
70% agree that the media are too focused on personalities and not enough on policies.
A minority of respondents think the media are biased – 23% think they are biased in favour of the Labor Party and 19% in favour of the Liberal Party.
child care, child care providers, Childcare, Childcare Rebate, children, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, families, Network 10, Network Ten, Polling, polls
Q. The Federal Government currently pays parents 50 per cent of money they spend on childcare via its childcare rebate. Which of the following policies would you support most?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Age
18-34 |
Aged
35-54 |
Aged 55+ | |
| Maintaining the child care rebate at current levels | 22% | 23% | 23% | 25% | 21% | 22% | 33% | 18% | 14% |
| Limiting the rebate to families earning less than $150,000 per annum | 42% | 46% | 41% | 44% | 42% | 42% | 38% | 42% | 47% |
| Scrapping the rebate and paying the money directly to child care providers to contain costs and improve services | 21% | 25% | 18% | 18% | 25% | 18% | 12% | 24% | 26% |
| Don’t know | 15% | 13% | 11% | 14% | 12% | 18% | 17% | 16% | 12% |
Only 22% favour maintaining the child care rebate at current levels – 42% think it should be means tested and 21% think it should be scrapped and the money paid directly to child care providers. There were no significant differences by voting intention.
Those aged 18-34 were more likely to support maintaining the rebate at current levels (33%) as were people earning over $1,600 pw (31%). Limiting the rebate to families earning less than $150,000 was supported by 55% of people earning $1,000-$1,600 pw.
2PP, Election, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, federal politics, 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 =1,837
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 43% | 43% | 43% | 43% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6 | 46% | 46% | 47% | 47% |
| Labor | 38.0 | 37% | 35% | 35% | 35% |
| Greens | 11.8 | 10% | 11% | 11% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6 | 7% | 8% | 8% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 52% | 53% | 54% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 48% | 47% | 46% | 46% |
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.
ALP, EMC, ER, Essential Media, Essential Report, Labor, Labor Party, Labor Party Attributes, Labor Party policies, Polling, polls
Q. Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various political parties. Which statements do you feel fit the Labor Party?
| 6 Jul 09 | 14 Mar 10
|
27 April 11
|
% change | |
| Will promise to do anything to win votes | 57% | 63% | 72% | +9% |
| Divided | 30% | 36% | 66% | +30% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 44% | 48% | 61% | +13% |
| Moderate | 65% | 63% | 51% | -12% |
| Too close to the big corporate and financial interests | 46% | n.a. | ||
| Have a vision for the future | 43% | n.a. | ||
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 62% | 54% | 40% | -14% |
| Looks after the interests of working people | 39% | n.a. | ||
| Extreme | 25% | 26% | 38% | +12% |
| Has a good team of leaders | 60% | 52% | 34% | -18% |
| Clear about what they stand for | 28% | n.a. | ||
| Keeps its promises | 44% | 33% | 20% | -13% |
The Labor Party’s main attributes were – will promise anything to win votes (63%), divided (66%) and out of touch with ordinary people (61%).
Since these questions were last asked in March 2010, all of Labor’s positive attributes have declined and the negative attributes increased. Main changes since last March were divided (up 30% to 66%), has a good team of leaders (down 18% to 34%) and understands the problems facing Australia (down 14% to 40%).
Note that the 2PP voting intention for 14 March 2010 was 56%-44% to Labor compared to the current 46%-54%.