Essential Report
Responsibility for the Ruby Princess
Q. You may be aware that there is a special commission of inquiry into the docking of the Ruby Princess cruise ship during the Covid-19 outbreak. Many people were involved during the decision-making process, to varying degrees.
At the end of the day, who do you think is most responsible for the decision to dock the Ruby Princess?
Gender | Age Group | |||||
Total | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | |
New South Wales Health public officials | 25% | 29% | 22% | 21% | 26% | 29% |
The ship’s captain and medical officers | 18% | 18% | 17% | 12% | 17% | 23% |
New South Wales Port Authority | 13% | 12% | 14% | 14% | 14% | 11% |
Border Force officials | 13% | 14% | 12% | 14% | 15% | 10% |
The individual passengers | 5% | 6% | 5% | 10% | 4% | 2% |
No one person or group is to blame | 26% | 22% | 29% | 29% | 24% | 25% |
Base (n) | 1,067 | 532 | 535 | 341 | 341 | 385 |
Federal Voting Intention | ||||
Labor | Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | |
New South Wales Health public officials | 26% | 27% | 22% | 25% |
The ship’s captain and medical officers | 14% | 22% | 16% | 19% |
New South Wales Port Authority | 12% | 14% | 11% | 16% |
Border Force officials | 15% | 11% | 15% | 15% |
The individual passengers | 4% | 6% | 8% | 4% |
No one person or group is to blame | 29% | 20% | 28% | 21% |
Base (n) | 306 | 418 | 86 | 143 |
- A quarter of participants say no one person or group is most responsible for the decision to dock the Ruby Princess (26%) but an equal amount (25%) say the New South Wales Health public officials are most responsible. One-fifth (18%) believe that the ship’s captain and medical officers are most responsible.
- Men (29%) and those over 55 years old (29%) are more likely to say New South Wales Health public officials are most responsible, compared to women (22%) and 18-34 (21%).
- Coalition voters are most likely to say the ship’s captain and medical officers are most responsible (22%) compared to other voters (16%).

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