13 February 2012, Approval of Tony Abbott, Approval rating, leadership, Liberal Party, 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 | 13 Feb | |
| Total approve | 37% | 37% | 39% | 38% | 38% | 39% | 40% | 36% | 32% | 35% | 35% |
| Total disapprove | 37% | 47% | 39% | 47% | 48% | 50% | 51% | 52% | 53% | 51% | 53% |
| Strongly approve | 5% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 8% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| Approve | 32% | 29% | 30% | 31% | 32% | 31% | 32% | 30% | 26% | 28% | 29% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 23% | 21% | 24% | 25% | 23% | 23% | 26% | 25% | 25% | 23% |
| Strongly disapprove | 17% | 24% | 18% | 23% | 23% | 27% | 28% | 26% | 28% | 26% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 26% | 16% | 22% | 16% | 15% | 11% | 9% | 12% | 14% | 13% | 12% |
Tony Abbott’s approval rating has also changed little over the last month. 35% (no change) approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 53% (up 2%) disapprove – a change in net rating from -16 to -18 over the last 4 weeks.
67% (down 1%) of Coalition voters approve and 21% (no change) disapprove.
By gender – men 40% approve/52% disapprove, women 31% approve/54% disapprove.
13 February 2012, Better Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, Labor, Liberal, PM, 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 | 13 Feb | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 44% | 41% | 36% | 38% | 41% | 39% | 39% | 41% | 85% | 5% | 76% |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 33% | 36% | 40% | 39% | 36% | 35% | 36% | 34% | 3% | 73% | 7% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 23% | 24% | 26% | 25% | 25% | 12% | 22% | 17% |
41% (up 2%) believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 34% (down 2%) prefer Tony Abbott – a net change from +3% to +7% for Julia Gillard. This is Julia Gillard’s best result since May last year.
Men prefer Julia Gillard 42%/37% and women favour Julia Gillard 40%/32%.
13 February 2012, business, Fairfax, Fairfax Newspapers, Gina Rinehart, media, mining, Politics, Polling, polls, reporting
Q. Gina Rinehart (mining company owner and Australia’s wealthiest person) has recently bought a major stake in Fairfax newspapers (publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age). Do you think this will make Fairfax newspapers reporting of politics and business more balanced and independent, less balanced and independent or will It make no difference?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | NSW | Victoria | |
| More balanced and independent | 7% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 11% | 5% |
| Less balanced and independent | 31% | 35% | 22% | 62% | 33% | 31% |
| Make no difference | 44% | 36% | 55% | 23% | 38% | 46% |
| Don’t know | 19% | 22% | 15% | 9% | 18% | 18% |
44% think that Gina Rinehart’s purchase of a major stake in Fairfax will make no difference to the balance and independence of the newspapers. 31% think this will make the newspapers less balanced and independent and only 7% think the newspapers will become more balanced and independent.
Greens voters (62%) and respondents aged under 35 (37%) were most likely to think the newspapers will become less balanced and independent and Liberal/National voters least likely (22%).
13 February 2012, Government Control, media, media control, media ownership, Polling, polls
Q. Do you think the Government should have more or less control of media ownership in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | NSW | Victoria | |
| Should have more control | 24% | 29% | 17% | 38% | 28% | 22% |
| Should have less control | 24% | 17% | 30% | 30% | 23% | 29% |
| Has about the right control now | 34% | 38% | 38% | 18% | 34% | 34% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 16% | 15% | 14% | 16% | 16% |
Respondents were evenly divided over whether the Government should have more or less control of media ownership in Australia. 24% think they should have more control and 24% think they should have less – and 34% think they have about the right control.
Greens voters (38%) and Labor voters (29%) are more likely to think the Government should have more control and 30% of Liberal/National voters think they should have less control.
13 February 2012, advanced industrial countries, Australia, fair and just, fairness, industrial countries, justice, Polling, polls
Q. Compared to other advanced industrial countries would you say Australia is fairer and more just, about average, or less fair and just?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total more fair and just | 46% | 53% | 47% | 40% |
| A lot more fair and just | 14% | 18% | 14% | 7% |
| A little more fair and just | 32% | 35% | 33% | 33% |
| About average | 38% | 35% | 39% | 47% |
| A little less fair and just | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| A lot less fair and just | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 3% | 3% | 1% |
46% think that Australia is fairer and more just than other advanced industrial countries.
Labor voters (53%) are more likely to think Australia is more fair and just than Liberal/National voters (47%) or Greens voters (40%).
13 February 2012, Australia, Canada, China, fair and just, fairness, France, Japan, justice, New Zealand, Polling, polls, The UK, The United States
Q. Would you say that Australia is more or less fair and just as a nation and society than the following countries?
| More fair and just | About the same | Less fair and just | Don’t know | |
| China | 66% | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| The United States | 47% | 33% | 10% | 10% |
| Japan | 41% | 30% | 12% | 18% |
| France | 34% | 34% | 13% | 19% |
| The UK | 26% | 58% | 7% | 9% |
| Canada | 12% | 61% | 13% | 14% |
| New Zealand | 12% | 68% | 11% | 9% |
66% think Australia is a more fair and just society than China and 47% think Australia is more fair than the United States.
More than half think Australia is about as fair and just as New Zealand (68%), Canada (61%) and the UK (58%).
Views about the United States are similar across most demographic groups except for those on higher incomes – 51% of those on incomes over $1,600 pw think Australia is more fair and just than the United States.
2PP, ER, essential report, Federal, Greens, Labor, Liberal, Nationals, Politics, 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 |
2 weeks ago | Last week
|
This week |
| Liberal | 45% | 45% | 44% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6% | 48% | 48% | 47% |
| Labor | 38.0% | 35% | 35% | 34% |
| Greens | 11.8% | 9% | 10% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 54% | 54% | 54% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 46% | 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.
Building program, Education, Polling, polls, primary school, school, school children, Schools, Schools of Building program, secondary school
If children at school –
Q. How much did the schools those children attend benefit from the Government’s school building program?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Children at primary school | Children at secondary school | |
| A lot | 19% | 25% | 16% | 26% | 15% |
| Moderately | 30% | 37% | 31% | 32% | 29% |
| A little | 23% | 15% | 33% | 24% | 22% |
| Not at all | 12% | 10% | 11% | 7% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 15% | 13% | 9% | 11% | 17% |
Of the respondents with children at school, 49% thought their schools had benefited a lot of moderately, 23% thought they had benefited a little and 12% not at all. 58% of those with children at primary school thought their schools had benefited a lot/moderately compared to 44% of those with children at secondary schools.