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%.
Government support for industry
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of governments giving the following types of financial support to these industries?
|
Total approve |
Total disapprove |
|
Strongly approve |
Approve |
Disapprove |
Strongly disapprove |
Don’t know |
|
| Agriculture – drought relief |
83% |
8% |
38% |
45% |
6% |
2% |
8% |
|
| Health care – private health rebate |
72% |
17% |
28% |
44% |
11% |
6% |
11% |
|
| Tourism – development grants |
61% |
22% |
10% |
51% |
16% |
6% |
17% |
|
| Food processing – production subsidies |
55% |
30% |
9% |
46% |
21% |
9% |
16% |
|
| Film – production grants |
46% |
34% |
8% |
38% |
23% |
11% |
20% |
|
| Banks – guaranteeing debt |
36% |
43% |
6% |
30% |
25% |
18% |
20% |
|
| Real estate investment – negative gearing |
35% |
43% |
9% |
26% |
27% |
16% |
22% |
|
| Motor vehicle manufacturing – production subsidies |
36% |
47% |
6% |
30% |
33% |
14% |
17% |
|
| Mining industry – fuel rebate |
26% |
56% |
4% |
22% |
31% |
25% |
17% |
There was majority approval of the Government giving financial support to agriculture (83% approve), health care (72%), tourism (61%) and food processing (55%).
The only issue on which there was majority disapproval was the fuel rebate for the mining industry (56% disapprove).
Labor voters are more likely than Liberal/National voters to approve support for car manufacturing (45% to 32%), food manufacturing (64%/49%), and film production (52%/43%).
Liberal/National voters are more likely than Labor voters to approve support for mining (34% to 24%), health care (81%/71%) and real estate investment (42%/35%).
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
Impact of Dollar on Industry
Q. The Australian dollar is now at $1.05 US and has been historically higher than the normal range of 60c-80c US. Is the high Australian dollar good or bad for the following industries?
|
Total good |
Total bad |
Very good |
Good |
Neither good nor bad |
Bad |
Very bad |
Don’t know |
|
| Mining industry |
29% |
29% |
10% |
19% |
20% |
24% |
5% |
22% |
| Farming & Grazing Industry |
16% |
49% |
4% |
12% |
16% |
36% |
13% |
19% |
| Finance Industry |
38% |
15% |
9% |
29% |
25% |
12% |
3% |
21% |
| Construction Industry |
24% |
26% |
4% |
20% |
28% |
22% |
4% |
23% |
| Manufacturing industry |
15% |
50% |
3% |
12% |
14% |
29% |
21% |
20% |
| Retail Industry |
23% |
47% |
6% |
17% |
14% |
30% |
17% |
16% |
| Australian Tourism Industry |
20% |
56% |
8% |
12% |
10% |
31% |
25% |
14% |
Overall, respondents think that the high Australian dollar has only been good for the finance industry (38% good/15% bad).
They believe that it has been particularly bad for the tourism industry (20% good/56% bad), the manufacturing industry (15%/50%), the farming and grazing industry (16%/49%) and the retail industry (23%/47%)
On the mining industry, they were split 29% good/29% bad.
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.
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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)
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- State of the economy
- Indictors of whether the Australian economy is in a good or poor state
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