Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 20 Sep | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | 11 Apr | 9 May | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott
21 Jun 10 |
||
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 45% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 42% | 43% | 91% | 7% | 71% | 47% | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 35% | 34% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 35% | 4% | 76% | 2% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 21% | 18% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 22% | 5% | 17% | 27% | 23% |
43% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 35% prefer Tony Abbott – a net decrease for Julia Gillard of 1% on last month’s figures (from +9% to +8%).
Men are split 41%/41% and women favour Julia Gillard 45%/29%.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 20 Sep | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb 2011 | 14 Mar 2011 | 11 Apr 2011 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott
21 Jun 10 |
||
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 45% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 42% | 86% | 8% | 75% | 47% | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 35% | 34% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 2% | 72% | 5% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 21% | 18% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 12% | 20% | 20% | 23% |
42% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 33% prefer Tony Abbott – a net decrease for Julia Gillard of 2% on last month’s figures (from +11% to +9%).
Men favour Julia Gillard over Tony Abbott 42%/38% and women 42%/29%.
Approval of Julia Gillard
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| Kevin Rudd | Julia Gillard | ||||||||||
| 31 May
2010 |
5 Jul | 19 Jul | 16 Aug | 20 Sep | 18 Oct | 22 Nov | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb | 14 Mar | |
| Total approve | 41% | 48% | 52% | 46% | 45% | 45% | 43% | 43% | 51% | 48% | 41% |
| Total disapprove | 47% | 27% | 30% | 40% | 37% | 37% | 38% | 40% | 36% | 41% | 46% |
| Strongly approve | 7% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 12% | 10% | 7% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 7% |
| Approve | 34% | 34% | 41% | 33% | 33% | 36% | 36% | 33% | 43% | 39% | 34% |
| Disapprove | 25% | 13% | 17% | 24% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 22% |
| Strongly disapprove | 22% | 14% | 13% | 16% | 16% | 17% | 15% | 16% | 12% | 16% | 24% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 26% | 18% | 13% | 19% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 14% | 11% | 13% |
41% (down 7%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 46% (up 5%) disapprove – a change in net rating from +7 to -5 over the last 4 weeks.
87% of Labor voters approve and 7% disapprove.
By gender – men 41% approve/49% disapprove, women 42% approve/43% disapprove.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 20 Sep | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb 2011 | 14 Mar 2011 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott
21 Jun 10 |
||
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 47% | 45% | 47% | 48% | 44% | 88% | 8% | 73% | 47% | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 35% | 34% | 32% | 31% | 33% | 3% | 70% | 4% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 21% | 18% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 9% | 22% | 22% | 23% |
44% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 33% prefer Tony Abbott – a net decrease for Julia Gillard of 6% on last month’s figures (from +17% to +11%).
Men favour Julia Gillard over Tony Abbott 42%/37% and women 46%/29%.
Leadership or Broken Promise
Q. Tony Abbott and the opposition claim this is a ‘backflip’ on a promise Prime Minister Gillard made before the 2010 election not to introduce a carbon tax in the next term of parliament. Which of the following statements is closest to your view:
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The Prime Minister has broken an election promise and should wait until after the next election before introducing a carbon pollution tax | 59% | 33% | 86% | 26% |
| The Prime Minister is showing strong leadership on an issue of national importance | 27% | 51% | 7% | 67% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 16% | 7% | 7% |
59% agree are more likely to think that the Prime Minister has broken an election promise and should wait until after the next election before introducing a carbon pollution tax and 27% believe she is showing strong leadership on an issue of national importance.
Opinions are strongly related to voting intention although a substantial minority (33%) of Labor voters agree that the Prime Minister has broken an election promise and should wait.
Approval of Julia Gillard
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister?
| Kevin Rudd | Julia Gillard | |||||||||
| 31 May | 5 Jul | 19 Jul | 16 Aug | 20 Sep | 18 Oct | 22 Nov | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb 2011 | |
| Total approve | 41% | 48% | 52% | 46% | 45% | 45% | 43% | 43% | 51% | 48% |
| Total disapprove | 47% | 27% | 30% | 40% | 37% | 37% | 38% | 40% | 36% | 41% |
| Strongly approve | 7% | 14% | 11% | 13% | 12% | 10% | 7% | 10% | 8% | 9% |
| Approve | 34% | 34% | 41% | 33% | 33% | 36% | 36% | 33% | 43% | 39% |
| Disapprove | 25% | 13% | 17% | 24% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 24% | 24% | 25% |
| Strongly disapprove | 22% | 14% | 13% | 16% | 16% | 17% | 15% | 16% | 12% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 26% | 18% | 13% | 19% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 14% | 11% |
48% (down 3%) approve of the job Julia Gillard is doing as Prime Minister and 41% (up 5%) disapprove – a change in net rating from +15 to +7 over the last 4 weeks.
88% of Labor voters approve and 8% disapprove.
By gender – men 45% approve/45% disapprove, women 51% approve/36% disapprove.
Better Prime Minister
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott?
| 5 Jul 2010 | 16 Aug | 20 Sep | 18 Oct | 22 Nov | 20 Dec | 17 Jan 2011 | 14 Feb 2011 | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Kevin Rudd v Tony Abbott
21 Jun 10 |
||
| Julia Gillard | 53% | 46% | 47% | 49% | 45% | 45% | 47% | 48% | 89% | 7% | 81% | 47% | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 35% | 35% | 33% | 34% | 34% | 32% | 31% | 4% | 73% | 6% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 21% | 19% | 18% | 17% | 21% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 8% | 20% | 16% | 23% |
48% believe Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 31% prefer Tony Abbott – a net increase for Julia Gillard of 2% on last month’s figures (from +15% to +17%).
Men favour Julia Gillard over Tony Abbott 45%/36% and women 52%/26%.
Attributes to describe the Prime Minister
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard?
| 5 Jul 10 | 4 Oct 10 | 7 Feb 11 | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 87% | 81% | 75% | -6% |
| Hard-working | 89% | 82% | 76% | -6% |
| A capable leader | 72% | 59% | 52% | -7% |
| Arrogant | 37% | 39% | 44% | +5% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 35% | 44% | 50% | +6% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 68% | 55% | 52% | -3% |
| Visionary | 48% | 38% | 30% | -8% |
| Superficial | 51% | * | ||
| Good in a crisis | 61% | 46% | 46% | – |
| Narrow-minded | 28% | 35% | 43% | +8% |
| More honest than most politicians | 45% | 37% | 37% | – |
| Trustworthy | 49% | 42% | 40% | -2% |
Julia Gillard’s key attributes were hard-working (76%) and intelligent (75%).
Major changes since this question was asked in October 2010 were increases of 8% for narrow-minded (to 43%) and 6% for out of touch (to 50%) and decreases for visionary (down 8% to 30%), a capable leader (down 7% to 52%), intelligent (down 6% to 75%) and hard-working (down 6% to 76%).
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