Importance of industries
Q. How important are the following industries for providing jobs for Australians into the future?
|
Very important |
Quite important |
Somewhat important |
Not very important |
Don’t know |
|
Very important Feb 2012 |
|
| Construction |
58% |
30% |
9% |
1% |
3% |
|
58% |
| Agriculture |
57% |
27% |
12% |
2% |
3% |
|
– |
| Manufacturing |
55% |
26% |
12% |
4% |
3% |
|
55% |
| Tourism |
53% |
31% |
11% |
3% |
2% |
|
53% |
| Mining |
52% |
29% |
13% |
4% |
2% |
|
64% |
| Retail |
46% |
35% |
14% |
2% |
2% |
|
47% |
| Hospitality |
45% |
37% |
14% |
2% |
2% |
|
46% |
| Finance |
40% |
34% |
19% |
3% |
4% |
|
39% |
| Telecommunications |
37% |
37% |
19% |
4% |
3% |
|
39% |
Respondents regard the construction (58%), agriculture (57%) and manufacturing (55%) industries to be the most important for providing jobs for Australians in the future. These were followed closely by the tourism (53%) and mining (52%) industries.
Since this question was last asked in February 2012, those think mining is very important for future jobs has dropped from 64% to 52%.
Services better run by Government or Private Sector
Q. Which of the following are better run by the private sector and which are better run by Government?
|
11 Mar 2013 |
31 Jan 2011 |
|||||
|
Better run by private sector |
Better run by Government |
Don’t know |
Better run by private sector |
Better run by Government |
Don’t know |
|
| Electricity |
25% |
62% |
13% |
22% |
61% |
17% |
| Water |
19% |
69% |
12% |
15% |
70% |
16% |
| Trains, buses and ferries |
25% |
64% |
11% |
19% |
68% |
13% |
| Motorways |
23% |
66% |
11% |
17% |
70% |
13% |
| Community services such as child protection |
14% |
75% |
11% |
14% |
71% |
15% |
| Telecommunications (including broadband services) |
45% |
44% |
11% |
na |
na |
na |
| Hospitals and health services |
19% |
71% |
10% |
na |
na |
na |
| Schools |
21% |
69% |
10% |
na |
na |
na |
| Prisons |
17% |
73% |
11% |
10% |
76% |
15% |
| Universities |
27% |
61% |
12% |
20% |
64% |
16% |
| Ports |
22% |
60% |
19% |
na |
na |
na |
Most services listed were clearly thought to be better run by Government than the private sector.
The only exception was telecommunications where respondents were split 45% private sector, 44% Government.
The areas most preferred to be run by Government were – community services (75%), prisons (73%), hospitals and health services (71%), schools (69%) and water (69%).
Compared to the results when this question was asked in January 2011, preference for the private sector running services has increased a little – +6% for trains, buses and ferries and motorways and +7% for prisons and universities.
Trust in industries
Q. How much trust do you have in the following industries to act in the public interest
|
Total a lot/some trust |
A lot of trust |
Some trust |
Not much trust |
No trust at all |
Don’t know |
|
| Agriculture |
72% |
20% |
52% |
18% |
4% |
5% |
| Tourism |
68% |
12% |
56% |
22% |
6% |
5% |
| Manufacturing |
56% |
8% |
48% |
30% |
8% |
7% |
| Construction and development |
48% |
5% |
43% |
33% |
12% |
6% |
| Retail |
47% |
3% |
44% |
38% |
12% |
3% |
| Telecommunications |
37% |
3% |
34% |
41% |
18% |
3% |
| Banking |
33% |
5% |
28% |
36% |
29% |
3% |
| Mining |
32% |
3% |
29% |
35% |
25% |
8% |
| Media |
30% |
2% |
28% |
40% |
27% |
2% |
| Power companies |
18% |
1% |
17% |
37% |
41% |
4% |
The industries most trusted to act in the public interest were agriculture (72% some/a lot of trust), tourism (68%) and manufacturing (56%).
The industries least trusted to act in the public interest were power companies (18%), the media (30%), mining (32%) and banking (33%).
The only industry on which there were major differences was mining where 43% of Liberal/National voters had a lot/some trust compared to only 25% of Labor voters and 17% of Greens voters.
Australian Industries
Q. How much do average Australians benefit from having strong industries in each of the following sectors?
|
Benefit a lot |
Some benefit |
A little benefit |
No benefit |
Don’t know |
|
| Tourism |
45% |
30% |
11% |
4% |
10% |
| Agriculture |
45% |
29% |
12% |
4% |
11% |
| Construction |
44% |
32% |
11% |
3% |
10% |
| Mining |
44% |
31% |
10% |
4% |
11% |
| Manufacturing |
44% |
30% |
11% |
4% |
10% |
| Retail |
40% |
34% |
11% |
5% |
10% |
| Hospitality |
36% |
36% |
13% |
4% |
10% |
| Finance |
34% |
34% |
15% |
5% |
11% |
| Telecommunications |
31% |
36% |
17% |
5% |
11% |
Over 40% of respondents think the average Australian benefits a lot from having strong industries in tourism (45%), agriculture (45%), construction (44%), mining (44%) and manufacturing (44%).
Major demographic differences were –
60% of aged 55+ think there is a lot of benefit from manufacturing
62% of aged 55+ and 50% of Labor voters think there is a lot of benefit from construction
53% of aged 45-64 think there is a lot of benefit from retail
60% of aged 55+ and 52% of Labor voters think there is a lot of benefit from tourism
58% of aged 55+ and 48% of Coalition voters think there is a lot of benefit from mining
57% of aged 55+ think there is a lot of benefit from agriculture
Opinion of NBN
Q. From what you’ve heard, do you favour or oppose the planned national broadband network (NBN)?
| 27 Sep 2010 | 14 Feb 2011 | 18 Apr 2011 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | ||
| Total in favour | 56% | 48% | 54% | 56% | 80% | 42% | 77% | |
| Total oppose | 18% | 31% | 28% | 25% | 8% | 43% | 8% | |
| Strongly favour | 27% | 19% | 22% | 20% | 39% | 10% | 28% | |
| Favour | 29% | 29% | 32% | 36% | 41% | 32% | 49% | |
| Oppose | 12% | 16% | 13% | 15% | 7% | 24% | 8% | |
| Strongly oppose | 6% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 1% | 19% | 0% | |
| Don’t know | 26% | 22% | 18% | 19% | 13% | 15% | 16% |
The results of this week’s poll show that support for the NBN has increased over the course of the last 12 months, returning to 56% (the same level in September 2010).
Since the question was last polled, support for the NBN has risen 2 percentage points to 56% (+2%) and opposition has declined to 25% (-3%).
There is overwhelming majority support from Labor (80%) and Greens (77%) voters, whilst Coalition voters are almost equally divided on the issue: 42% in favour and 43% opposed.
Looking at the results by age, those respondents aged between 55-64 are the most likely to oppose the NBN, though the majority still favour the planned network: 52%/34%.
Importance of Industries for Providing Jobs
Q. How important are the following industries for providing jobs for Australians into the future?
| Very important | Quite important | Somewhat important | Not very important | Don’t know | |
| Mining | 64% | 24% | 7% | 2% | 3% |
| Construction | 58% | 30% | 9% | 0% | 2% |
| Manufacturing | 55% | 29% | 12% | 2% | 2% |
| Tourism | 53% | 33% | 11% | 1% | 2% |
| Retail | 47% | 35% | 13% | 2% | 2% |
| Hospitality | 46% | 38% | 12% | 1% | 3% |
| Finance | 39% | 38% | 18% | 3% | 3% |
| Telecommunications | 39% | 37% | 18% | 3% | 3% |
Respondents regard the mining (64%), construction (58%) and manufacturing (55%) industries to be the most important for providing jobs for Australians in the future.
This was followed closely by the tourism (53%), retail (47%) and hospitality (46%) industries.
The finance (39%) and telecommunications (39%) industries are the most likely to be seen as only ‘somewhat important’ (18%) for providing jobs.
Australian Industries
Q. Thinking about Australian industries, how would you rate the current state of the following industries?
| Total good | Total poor | Very good | Good | Poor | Very poor | |
| Mining | 85% | 15% | 76% | 9% | 2% | 13% |
| Construction | 77% | 23% | 47% | 30% | 7% | 16% |
| Hospitality | 81% | 19% | 46% | 35% | 7% | 12% |
| Tourism | 81% | 19% | 45% | 36% | 7% | 12% |
| Finance | 76% | 24% | 44% | 32% | 8% | 16% |
| Telecommunications | 78% | 22% | 43% | 35% | 11% | 11% |
| Media | 72% | 28% | 38% | 34% | 12% | 16% |
| Agriculture | 75% | 25% | 36% | 39% | 9% | 16% |
| Retail | 75% | 25% | 26% | 49% | 16% | 9% |
| Manufacturing | 62% | 38% | 19% | 43% | 22% | 16% |
76% rate the state of the mining industry as very good – the only industry to score above 50%. However at least 75% think all other industries except manufacturing are in a very good or good state.
Only 19% rate manufacturing as very good – and 38% rate it poor or very poor.
Most Important Industries
Q. And which of these industries are the three most important for Australia’s economic future?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Mining | 67% | 77% | 67% | 61% |
| Agriculture | 58% | 57% | 59% | 58% |
| Tourism | 46% | 47% | 43% | 56% |
| Manufacturing | 37% | 30% | 40% | 36% |
| Construction | 25% | 26% | 26% | 31% |
| Finance | 21% | 18% | 23% | 17% |
| Retail | 17% | 18% | 17% | 12% |
| Telecommunications | 14% | 16% | 11% | 20% |
| Hospitality | 10% | 10% | 9% | 6% |
| Media | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Don’t know | 4% | * | 4% | 3% |
Australia’s most important industries are thought to be mining (67%), agriculture (58%), tourism (46%) and manufacturing (37%). Opinions are consistent across voter groups in terms of order of importance.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
In this week's report:
- Coronavirus concerns
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Attitudes to latest Victorian restrictions (VICTORIA ONLY)
- Attitudes towards Queensland border closure
- State of the economy
- Indictors of whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state
- State of the economy in next six months
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