The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report

  • Jan, 2020

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    Leadership during bushfires

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of Scott Morrison/Gladys Berejiklian/Daniel Andrews’s handling of the bushfire crisis?

      NET: Approve NET: Disapprove Strongly approve Approve Disapprove Strongly disapprove Don’t know
    Scott Morrison

    (Asked in all states, n=1,081)

    		 32% 57% 8% 24% 21% 36% 11%
    Gladys Berejiklian

    (Asked in NSW only, n=333)

    		 55% 22% 14% 43% 14% 9% 22%
    Daniel Andrews

    (Asked in VIC only, n=275)

    		 58% 20% 14% 44% 13% 7% 22%

     

    NET: APPROVE Total Federal Voting Intention
    Labor Coalition NET: Other
    Scott Morrison

    (Asked in all states,  n=1,081)

    		 32% 11% 64% 23%
    Gladys Berejiklian

    (Asked in NSW only, n=333)

    		 55% 54% 71% 40%
    Daniel Andrews

    (Asked in VIC only, n=333)

    		 58% 67% 63% 37%
    • Around a third (32%) of people approve of Scott Morrison’s handing of the current bushfires crisis, with just 8% strongly approving of his performance. 36% strongly disapprove of his performance.
    • Comparatively, state premiers Berejiklian and Andrews have performed well, with over half of people in each state approving of their handling of the crisis (55% in NSW and 58% in Victoria).
    • The majority of Scott Morrison’s approval is coming from within his own supporter base, with 64% of intended Coalition voters approving of his performance during the crisis. Just 11% of Labor voters and 23% of those voting for another party approve of his performance.
  • Dec, 2019

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    Performance of Scott Morrison

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?

    Dec’19 Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 Aug’19 Jul’19 Jun’19
    NET: Approve 45% 45% 47% 49% 48% 48% 48%
    NET: Disapprove 43% 41% 38% 36% 37% 34% 36%
    Don’t know 13% 13% 15% 15% 16% 18% 18%
    Base (n) 1,035 1,075 1,088 1,093 1,096 1,091 1,099

     

    Total Federal Voting Intention
    Labor Coalition Greens NET: Other
    Strongly approve 12% 3% 27% 3% 9%
    Approve 32% 18% 55% 24% 19%
    Disapprove 21% 32% 13% 19% 25%
    Strongly disapprove 22% 36% 1% 46% 35%
    Don’t know 13% 11% 5% 7% 12%
    NET: Approve 45% 21% 82% 27% 28%
    NET: Disapprove 43% 68% 13% 66% 60%
    Base (n) 1

    ,035

    		 339 356 106 116
    • The Prime Minister’s approval rating is now 45% and on par with Nov’19.
    • While the PM’s approval has remained steady, disapproval scores have been increasing from 34% in July to 43% in December.
    • The vast majority of Coalition voters approve of Morrison’s performance as PM, with 82% approval (on par with 83% approval last month).
  • Dec, 2019

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    Performance of Scott Morrison compared to expectations

    Q. Since the federal election in May 2019, how has the performance of Scott Morrison compared to your expectations?

      Performance of Scott Morrison Federal Voting Intention
    Total NET: Approve NET: Disapprove Don’t know Labor Coalition Greens NET: Other
    Has exceeded my expectations 11% 22% 1% 6% 4% 22% 6% 8%
    Has met my expectations 41% 66% 12% 53% 27% 60% 34% 25%
    Has fallen short of my expectations 47% 12% 86% 41% 69% 18% 60% 67%
    Base (n) 1,035 441 461 133 339 356 106 116
    • 66% of participants who approve of the PM’s performance say he has met their expectations, compared to just 12% of those who disapprove of his performance.
    • Again, Coalition voters are most likely to say Scott Morrison has met their expectations (60%) than other voters (28%).
  • Nov, 2019

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    Performance of Scott Morrison

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister?

    Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 Aug’19 Jul’19 Jun’19
    NET: Approve 45% 47% 49% 48% 48% 48%
    NET: Disapprove 41% 38% 36% 37% 34% 36%
    Don’t know 13% 15% 15% 16% 18% 18%
    Base (n) 1,075 1,088 1,093 1,096 1,091 1,099

     

    Total Voting Intention
    Labor Coalition Greens NET: Other
    Strongly approve 12% 4% 27% 2% 3%
    Approve 33% 22% 56% 13% 31%
    Disapprove 21% 32% 10% 28% 27%
    Strongly disapprove 20% 32% 2% 43% 27%
    Don’t know 13% 11% 5% 15% 12%
    NET: Approve 45% 25% 83% 15% 34%
    NET: Disapprove 41% 64% 11% 71% 54%
    Base (n) 1,075 325 377 107 155
    • There is a slight drop in the approval rating of the Prime Minister this month, with the 45% of participants approving of the job, down from 47% last month and 49% in September.
    • The vast majority of Coalition voters approve of Morrison’s performance as PM, with 83% approval (on par with 84% approval last month), compared to just 11% of Coalition voters who disapprove.
    • The main drivers of the decline in the PMs approval rating are men (approval now at 47%, down from 53% in October), Queensland residents (40%, down from 47% last month) and residents aged 18-34 (41%, down from 50% last month).
  • Nov, 2019

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    Preferred Prime Minister

    Q. Who do you think would makes the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese?

      Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 Aug’19 Jul’19 Jun’19
    Scott Morrison 44% 43% 46% 44% 44% 43%
    Anthony Albanese 28% 28% 25% 28% 26% 25%
    Don’t know 29% 29% 29% 28% 31% 32%
    Base (n) 1,075 1,088 1,093 1,096 1,091 1,099

     

      Total Gender Age
    Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
    Scott Morrison 44% 47% 41% 38% 40% 52%
    Anthony Albanese 28% 30% 25% 33% 25% 26%
    Don’t know 29% 23% 34% 29% 35% 22%
    Base (n) 1,075 526 549 327 371 377
    • More than two-fifths of participants think that Scott Morrison makes the better PM (44%), which is on par with previous months from mid-2019 (between 43% and 46% since June).
    • 29% don’t know who would make the better PM between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.
  • Jul, 2014

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    Approval of Government Ministers

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the job the following people are doing as Government Ministers? 

     

    Total approve

    Total dis-approve

    Net score

    Strongly approve

    Approve

    Dis-approve

    Strongly dis-approve

    Don’t know
    Malcolm Turnbull – Communications

    44%

    31%

    +13

    8%

    36%

    18%

    13%

    25%
    Julie Bishop – Foreign Affairs

    41%

    38%

    +3

    12%

    29%

    18%

    20%

    22%
    George Brandis – Attorney General

    33%

    31%

    +2

    7%

    26%

    15%

    16%

    36%
    Scott Morrison – Immigration and Border Protection

    38%

    39%

    -1

    14%

    24%

    17%

    22%

    24%
    Greg Hunt – Environment

    28%

    39%

    -11

    5%

    23%

    18%

    21%

    34%
    Joe Hockey – Treasurer

    36%

    48%

    -12

    10%

    26%

    21%

    27%

    15%
    Christopher Pyne – Education

    29%

    47%

    -18

    7%

    22%

    20%

    27%

    24%

    Malcolm Turnbull (+13) received the highest rating while Christopher Pyne (-18), Joe Hockey (-12) and Greg Hunt (-11) receive substantial negative ratings. Respondents were divided over the performance of Julie Bishop (+3), George Brandis (+2) and Scott Morrison (-1). 

    Liberal voters were most approving of Joe Hockey (78% approve), Julie Bishop (74%), Malcolm Turnbull (72%) and Scott Morrison (70%).

    View more results by voter intention.

  • Mar, 2014

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    Approval of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

    Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison in handling the issue of asylum seekers?

      

    Total

     

     

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Vote other
    Total approve

    39%

    18%

    72%

    7%

    33%
    Total disapprove

    39%

    59%

    12%

    83%

    45%
    Strongly approve

    13%

    3%

    28%

    5%

    8%
    Approve

    26%

    15%

    44%

    2%

    25%
    Disapprove

    19%

    26%

    9%

    25%

    25%
    Strongly disapprove

    20%

    33%

    3%

    58%

    20%
    Don’t know

    22%

    23%

    15%

    9%

    22%

    39% approve of the performance of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison in handling the issue of asylum seekers and 39% disapprove.

    Those most likely to approve were Liberal/National voters (72%) and aged 55+ (53%).

    Those most likely to disapprove were Labor voters (59%), Greens voters (83%) and aged under 35 (46%).

  • Mar, 2011

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    The polling that drives dog whistle politics … and may cure them

    First published on The Drum: 01/03/2011

    Here is the polling that is driving Scott Morrison’s subterranean attack on Muslims, confirmation that a majority of Australians are concerned about their numbers.

    For too long conservative blowhards like Morrison have been running agendas that directly reference these findings but because they have remained hidden in a desk drawer they are merely debating an issue.

    After much soul-searching, Essential has decided to commit an act of political interruption. We debated whether it was worth giving voice to these attitudes long and hard, but we believe getting this stuff out in the open is the only way to silence the dog whistle.

    Q. Are you concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia?

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total concerned 57% 50% 69% 32%
    Total not concerned 38% 46% 28% 68%
    Very Concerned 28% 21% 37% 12%
    Somewhat concerned 29% 29% 32% 20%
    Not very concerned 21% 23% 19% 27%
    Not at all concerned 17% 23% 9% 41%
    Don’t know/Refused 5% 4% 2% —

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