The Senate

Q. Regardless of which party is elected to Government (i.e. has a majority in the House of Representatives), which of the following Senate options do you think would be best for Australia?

	Total	Vote Labor	Vote Liberal/ National	Vote Greens
The Government has a majority in the Senate	29%	41%	33%	5%
The Opposition party has a majority in the Senate	10%	3%	21%	2%
The Greens and the independents (like Xenophon and Fielding) together hold the balance of power in the Senate	27%	25%	27%	35%
The Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate	12%	14%	3%	50%
Don’t know	22%	18%	16%	7%

 Opinions about the balance of power in the Senate are mixed. 29% prefer the Government to have a majority and 27% prefer the Greens and independents combined to hold the balance of power. Only 12% want the Greens on their own to hold the balance of power and 10% would prefer the opposition to have a majority. Overall, 39% want one of the major parties to have a majority and 39% want minor parties to hold the balance of power.

 85% of Greens voters want the Greens or Greens and independents to hold the balance of power compared to 39% of Labor voters and 30% of Liberal/National voters.