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  • Jul, 2012

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    Greens Policies

    Q. Do you think that The Greens’ policies are too extreme or do they represent the views of many voters?

     

    Total

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Too extreme

    53%

    50%

    70%

    4%

    Represent the views of many voters

    26%

    27%

    18%

    87%

    Don’t know

    21%

    23%

    12%

    9%

    53% think The Greens’ policies are too extreme and 26% think they represent the views of many voters.

    Those most likely to think The Greens’ policies are too extreme were men (61%), aged 55+ (77%) and Liberal/National voters (70%).

    37% of respondents aged under 35 think they represent the views of many voters and 35% think they are too extreme.

  • Jun, 2012

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    Bias in Media Reporting

    Q. Overall, do you think media reporting is biased in favour or against the following groups?

     

    Biased in favour

    Biased against

    Not biased

    Don’t know

    Net score

    Business groups

    27%

    14%

    29%

    30%

    +13

    The Liberal Party

    26%

    22%

    26%

    26%

    +4

    Large corporations

    26%

    25%

    23%

    27%

    +1

    Environment groups

    22%

    25%

    26%

    27%

    -3

    The Greens

    19%

    27%

    27%

    27%

    -8

    Religious groups

    14%

    24%

    32%

    30%

    -10

    The Labor Party

    18%

    31%

    26%

    25%

    -13

    Unions

    18%

    32%

    23%

    26%

    -14

    Net score = bias in favour minus bias against.

    Overall, respondents think that media reporting is biased in favour of business groups and biased against unions, the Labor Party and religious groups. They were evenly divided over whether media reporting is biased for or against the Liberal Party, large corporations, and environment groups.

    Among Labor voters, 50% think the media are biased against the Labor Party and 43% think they are biased in favour of the Liberal Party.

    Among Coalition voters, 34% think the media are biased against the Liberal Party and 29% think they are biased in favour of the Labor Party.

    57% of Greens voters think the media are biased against the Greens.

  • May, 2012

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    Federal politics – voting intention

    Q. If a Federal Election was held today to which party will you probably give your first preference vote? If not sure, which party are you currently leaning toward?

    Q. If don’t know -Well which party are you currently leaning to?

    Sample size = 1,918 respondents

    First preference/leaning to

    Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago

    23/4/12

    2 weeks ago

    7/5/12

    Last week

    14/5/12

    This week

    21/5/12

    Liberal

    45%

    47%

    47%

    46%

    National

    3%

    3%

    3%

    3%

    Total Lib/Nat

    43.6%

    49%

    50%

    50%

    49%

    Labor

    38.0%

    31%

    29%

    30%

    33%

    Greens

    11.8%

    11%

    11%

    11%

    10%

    Other/Independent

    6.6%

    9%

    9%

    9%

    8%

     

    2PP

    Election

    21 Aug 10

    4 weeks ago

    2 weeks ago

    Last week

    This week

    Total Lib/Nat

    49.9%

    56%

    58%

    57%

    56%

    Labor

    50.1%

    44%

    42%

    43%

    44

    NB.  The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived from the first preference/leaning to voting questions.  Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ are not included in the results.  The two-party preferred estimate is calculated by distributing the votes of the other parties according to their preferences at the 2010 election. These estimates have a confidence interval of approx. + or – 2%.

  • Apr, 2012

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    Approval of Bob Brown

    Q. Last week Bob Brown resigned from Parliament and the leadership of the Greens, after 16 years as a member of the Senate. Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of Bob Brown over his 16 years in Parliament?

     

    Total

    Vote Labor

    Vote Lib/Nat

    Vote Greens

    Total approve

    42%

    60%

    24%

    89%

    Total disapprove

    34%

    15%

    56%

    1%

    Strongly approve

    9%

    14%

    3%

    38%

    Approve

    33%

    46%

    21%

    51%

    Disapprove

    19%

    13%

    29%

    1%

    Strongly disapprove

    15%

    2%

    27%

    Don’t know

    24%

    25%

    20%

    10

    42% approve the performance of Bob Brown over his 16 years in Parliament and 34% disapprove. A majority of Greens voters (89%) and Labor voters (60%) approve but 56% of Liberal/National voters disapprove.

    Men split 40% approve/41% disapprove compared to women 43% approve/28% disapprove.

    By age group, approval/disapproval was 46%/21% for under 35’s, 43%/31% for 35-54’s and 35%/56% for 55+.

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  • Dec, 2011

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    2012 Outlook – Political Parties

    Q. Do you think 2012 will be a good or bad year for each of the following political parties?

    Total good

    Dec 10

    Total bad

    Dec10

    Total good Total bad Very good Good Neither good nor bad Bad Very bad Don’t know
    The Liberal Party 35% 18% 36% 24% 8% 28% 28% 17% 7% 12%
    The Labor Party 19% 40% 16% 49% 3% 13% 23% 29% 20% 11%
    The Greens 22% 29% 17% 37% 2% 15% 32% 20% 17% 13%

    Respondents expect that 2012 is likely to be a relatively good year for the Liberal Party (36% good/24% bad) and a bad year for the Labor Party (16%/49%) and the Greens (17%/37%).

    Among their own voters, 67% expect the Liberals to have a good year, 38% expect Labor to have a good year and 67% expect the Greens to have a good year.

    Compared to expectations 12 months ago, respondents were somewhat less positive about all political parties – The Liberal Party has dropped form net +17% to net +12%, the Labor Party from -21% to -33% and the Greens from -7% to -20%.

    Comparing these results with last week’s questions about 2011, respondents expect the Liberal Party to have a better year (net +12% next year this year compared to net -3% this year), the Labor Party to have a similar year (-33% next year, -37% this year) and the Greens to have a much worse year (-20% next year, +4% this year).

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  • Apr, 2011

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    Attributes of the Greens

    Q. And which statements do you feel fit the Greens?


    Extreme 61%
    Out of touch with ordinary people 60%
    Will promise to do anything to win votes 52%
    Clear about what they stand for 51%
    Have a vision for the future 49%
    Understands the problems facing Australia 36%
    Divided 35%
    Looks after the interests of working people 31%
    Keeps its promises 31%
    Has a good team of leaders 29%
    Moderate 28%
    Too close to the big corporate and financial interests 22%

    The Greens’ main attributes were – extreme (61%), out of touch with ordinary people (60%), will promise to do anything to win votes (52%) and clear about what they stand for (51%). Compared to the major parties, the Greens were rated more highly for being clear about what they stand for and having a vision for the future.

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  • Apr, 2011

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    Green-baiting and the art of product differentiation

    First published on The Drum: 12/04/2011

    The Prime Minister has been dedicating a significant slice of stump time in recent weeks to explaining the differences between the ALP and the Greens, how one emerges from real-world struggles and the other is a group of out-of-touch extremists.

    A similar debate has been being waged within the Greens following their underwhelming NSW state election performance, where a local candidate’s intervention in the Middle East peace provided the platform to portray the party as a collective of bat-faced ideologues.

    But as the debate about the Greens’ orientation gains pertinence as they move to assume the balance of power in the Senate a more basic fact is being missed: Labor voters and Green voters agree on just about everything.

    A review of findings to Essential Research questions over the past few months finds that on nearly every big debate the similarities between Greens voters and Labor voters far outweigh their differences.

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  • Apr, 2011

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    Opinion of the Greens

    Do you agree or disagree that – the Greens are an extreme political party that does not share the values of average Australians? (Question commissioned by Network Ten)

    Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens Men Women Age

    18-34

    Aged

    35-54

    Aged 55+
    Total agree 52% 44% 74% 7% 60% 44% 41% 51% 65%
    Total disagree 30% 41% 14% 87% 30% 30% 34% 31% 24%
    Strongly agree 23% 12% 39% 29% 17% 16% 21% 34%
    Agree 29% 32% 35% 7% 31% 27% 25% 31% 31%
    Disagree 21% 32% 13% 29% 22% 20% 21% 23% 18%
    Strongly disagree 9% 7% 1% 58% 8% 10% 13% 8% 6%
    Don’t know 18% 17% 12% 7% 9% 27% 25% 18% 11%

    Just over half the respondents (52%) agreed that the Greens are an extreme political party that does not share the values of average Australians and 30% disagree.

    Those most likely to agree were Liberal/National voters (74%), men (60%) and those aged 65+ (65%). Labor voters were split with 44% agree and 41% disagree.

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