Likelihood of more spending cuts – Liberal Government
Q. If the Liberal Party win Government, how likely do you think it is that they will be able to pay for their policies and election commitments without making more cuts in spending after the election?
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Very likely |
9% |
1% |
19% |
5% |
|
Somewhat likely |
16% |
11% |
27% |
6% |
|
Somewhat unlikely |
20% |
19% |
24% |
14% |
|
Very unlikely |
41% |
61% |
16% |
66% |
|
Don’t know |
14% |
8% |
14% |
10% |
61% think it is unlikely that a Liberal Government will be able to pay for their policies and election commitments without making more cuts in spending after the election – only 25% think it is likely.
40% of Liberal/National voters think it is unlikely.
Likelihood of more spending cuts – Labor Government
Q. If the Labor Party win Government, how likely do you think it is that they will be able to pay for their policies and election commitments without making more cuts in spending after the election?
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Very likely |
7% |
13% |
2% |
8% |
|
Somewhat likely |
20% |
42% |
3% |
28% |
|
Somewhat unlikely |
24% |
27% |
18% |
38% |
|
Very unlikely |
35% |
8% |
67% |
13% |
|
Don’t know |
14% |
11% |
10% |
14% |
59% think it is unlikely that a Labor Government will be able to pay for their policies and election commitments without making more cuts in spending after the election – only 27% think it is likely.
35% of Labor voters think it is unlikely.
Government spending cuts
Q. Do you think the Federal Budget has cut Government spending by too much, not enough or about the right amount?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Cut spending too much |
20% |
20% |
19% |
23% |
Not cut spending enough |
34% |
13% |
54% |
25% |
Cut spending about right amount |
21% |
42% |
9% |
29% |
Don’t know |
25% |
25% |
18% |
23% |
34% thought that the Federal budget had not cut Government spending enough. 20% thought it had cut spending too much and 21% thought it had cut spending about right.
42% of Labor voters thought the spending cuts were about right while 54% of Liberal/National voters thought spending had not been cut enough.
Approval of return to surplus
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Government’s intention to return the budget to surplus this financial year, even if it means making more spending cuts?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Total approve |
37% |
52% |
31% |
43% |
Total disapprove |
43% |
32% |
54% |
35% |
Strongly approve |
5% |
8% |
5% |
7% |
Approve |
32% |
44% |
26% |
36% |
Disapprove |
31% |
26% |
38% |
26% |
Strongly disapprove |
12% |
6% |
16% |
9% |
Don’t know |
19% |
17% |
16% |
23% |
37% approve of returning the budget to surplus even if it means spending cuts and 43% disapprove.
Labor voters (52%) and Greens voters (43%) are more likely to approve but 54% Liberal/National voters disapprove. There were no substantial differences across demographics.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
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In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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