07 May 2012, 070512, offence, political offence, politicians, Polling, polls, stand down
Q. In general, if a politician is accused of an offence, do you think they should stand down from the positions they hold or should they be allowed to continue in their positions until a decision is made about their guilt or innocence?
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Should stand down from their positions |
62% |
50% |
73% |
46% |
Should be allowed to continue in their positions |
27% |
41% |
20% |
39% |
Don’t know |
10% |
9% |
8% |
15% |
62% think that if a politician is accused of an offence, they should stand down from the positions they hold and 27% think should they be allowed to continue in their positions until a decision is made about their guilt or innocence.
All demographic and voter groups were more likely to think they should stand down – although Labor (41%) and Greens (39%) voters recorded the highest support for allowing them to continue. Older respondents were more likely to think they should stand down – those aged 55+ split 72% stand down/23% continue and those aged 18-34 split 51% stand down/36% continue.