Q. If there was a Federal election held today, to which party would you probably give your first preference?
Q. If you ‘don’t know’ on the above question, which party are you currently leaning to?
*1875 sample size
| 2 week average | % | 2PP | 2PP shift from last week |
| Liberal | 32% | ||
| National | 3% | ||
| Total Lib/Nat | 35% | 42% | - |
| Labor | 46% | 58% | - |
| Greens | 10% | ||
| Family First | 2% | ||
| Other/Independent | 7% |
NB. The data in the above table is derived from our weekly first preference voting question. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ as their first preference are not included in the results.
* Sample is the culmination of two week’s data.
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister?
| 12 Jan 09 | 9 Feb 09 | 30 Mar 09 | 18 May 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 10 Aug 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 9 Nov 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | |
| Strongly approve | 14% | 17% | 21% | 14% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 14% | 9% | 10% |
| Approve | 52% | 50% | 50% | 48% | 48% | 47% | 51% | 47% | 47% | 47% |
| Disapprove | 16% | 15% | 14% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 20% | 20% |
| Strongly disapprove | 6% | 8% | 7% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 6% | 13% | 15% | 12% |
| Don’t know | 11% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 8% | 10% | 10% |
| Total approve | 66% | 67% | 71% | 62% | 62% | 60% | 66% | 61% | 56% | 57% |
| Total disapprove | 22% | 23% | 21% | 29% | 29% | 27% | 23% | 32% | 35% | 32% |
Kevin Rudd’s approval rating has increased slightly since we last asked this question (+1%) and his disapproval rating has decreased slightly (-3%).
Opinion followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to approve (92%) while Coalition voters were more likely to disapprove (74%). 18% of Coalition voters approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister.
Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader?
| Malcolm Turnbull | Tony Abbott | |||||||||
| 12 Jan 09 | 9 Feb 09 | 30 Mar 09 | 18 May 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 10 Aug 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 9 Nov 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | |
| Strongly approve | 4% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 7% |
| Approve | 37% | 29% | 25% | 28% | 20% | 20% | 24% | 26% | 23% | 27% |
| Disapprove | 21% | 26% | 31% | 28% | 31% | 30% | 35% | 30% | 33% | 18% |
| Strongly disapprove | 9% | 17% | 17% | 21% | 26% | 28% | 18% | 20% | 22% | 18% |
| Don’t know | 29% | 24% | 24% | 21% | 19% | 20% | 21% | 20% | 19% | 31% |
| Total approve | 41% | 32% | 28% | 30% | 24% | 22% | 27% | 29% | 25% | 34% |
| Total disapprove | 30% | 43% | 48% | 49% | 57% | 58% | 53% | 50% | 55% | 36% |
34% of respondents approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader, 36% disapprove and 31% don’t know.
Perception followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to approve of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader (65%) while Labor voters were more likely to disapprove (55%). 15% of Coalition voters disapprove of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader.
Abbott’s approval rating is nine percentage points higher than the score Turnbull received right before he was replaced as Opposition Leader. However, Turnbull’s approval rating when he took on the leadership role in September 2009 was 36% and his disapproval rating was 30%. This is a slightly better result than that scored by Abbott after his succession to the leadership position.
Q. World leaders are currently meeting in Copenhagen to discuss a global approach to climate change. How important do you think this meeting is?
| % | |
| Total important | 73% |
| Total not important | 21% |
| Very important | 39% |
| Quite important | 34% |
| Not very important | 12% |
| Not at all important | 9% |
| Don’t know | 6% |
73% of people think that the meeting in Copenhagen to discuss a global approach to climate change is important, 21% think it is not important and 6% don’t know.
Labor (84%) and Green (89%) voters were more likely to think the meeting is important, while Coalition voters were more likely to think the meeting is not important (37%). 59% of Coalition voters think the meeting is important.
Respondents aged 18 – 24 were more likely to think the meeting is important (75%) while those aged 55 years and over were more likely to think it is not important (23%).
Q. And how likely do you think it is that the world leaders meeting in Copenhagen will reach agreement on a global approach to climate change?
| % | |
| Total likely | 19% |
| Total not likely | 74% |
| Very likely | 3% |
| Quite likely | 16% |
| Not very likely | 53% |
| Not at all likely | 21% |
| Don’t know | 8% |
While most people surveyed think the meeting in Copenhagen is important, only 19% think that it is likely that the meeting in Copenhagen will reach agreement on a global approach to climate change. 74% don’t think it is likely an agreement will be reached and 8% don’t know.
Labor voters were more likely to be optimistic that an agreement will be reached (26%) while Coalition voters were more likely to think reaching agreement is not likely (86%). 16% of Green voters think it is likely and 78% think it is not likely agreement will be reached.
Results were similar across the different age and gender groups. Comments »
14
Staff Christmas Functions
Q. Which of the following situations applies to your workplace regarding staff Christmas functions?
| Dec 08 | Dec 09 | |
| My employer is paying for a staff Christmas function much the same as previous years | 45% | 44% |
| My employer doesn’t usually pay for a staff Christmas function | 37% | 31% |
| My employer usually pays for a staff Christmas function but this year it will be smaller | 10% | 12% |
| My employer usually pays for a staff Christmas function but it has been cancelled this year | 6% | 3% |
| My employer will be spending more than usual on a staff Christmas function | 2% | 1% |
| Don’t know | * | 9% |
N=637. Those that selected ‘not an employee’ have been removed from the above table.
Results are reasonably similar to those obtained last year when we asked the same question.
44% of people surveyed indicated that their employer is paying for a staff Christmas function much the same as previous year, 31% have an employer that doesn’t usually pay for a staff Christmas function and 12% said that their employer paid for Christmas lunch will be smaller this year.
Results were similar across most demographic groups. Comments »
14
Christmas spending
Q. And compared to last year, do you expect to be spending more on gifts at Christmas, less or much the same?
| Dec 08 | Dec 09 | |
| Will spend more | 3% | 11% |
| Will be spending less | 38% | 38% |
| Spend much the same | 55% | 47% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 4% |
11% of people indicated they will spend more on Christmas presents this year than they spent last year, 38% think they will spend less and 47% will spend much the same.
Expectation that more will be spent on Christmas gifts this year decreases with age – 21% of 18 – 24 year olds expect to spend more compared with 5% of those aged 55 years and over. 56% of those aged 55 years and over expect to spend much the same.
People earning $1000 – $1600 per week were slightly more likely than those in other income groups to indicate they will spend more this year on Christmas gifts (14%), while people earning $1600 + per week were more likely to spend much the same as last year.
People’s expectation that they will spend more this year than they spent last has increased eight percentage points since we last asked this question in 2008. Comments »
Q. If there was a Federal election held today, to which party would you probably give your first preference?
Q. If you ‘don’t know’ on the above question, which party are you currently leaning to?
*1922 sample size
| 2 week average | % | 2PP | 2PP shift from last week |
| Liberal | 30% | ||
| National | 4% | ||
| Total Lib/Nat | 34% | 42% | - |
| Labor | 46% | 58% | - |
| Greens | 9% | ||
| Family First | 3% | ||
| Other/Independent | 8% |
NB. The data in the above table is derived from our weekly first preference voting question. Respondents who select ‘don’t know’ as their first preference are not included in the results.
* Sample is the culmination of two week’s data.
7
Liberal Leadership
Q. Does the election of Tony Abbott as leader of the Liberal Party make you more likely or less likely to vote Liberal?
| Total | Labor | Coalition | Greens | |
| More likely | 21% | 12% | 42% | 5% |
| Less likely | 33% | 44% | 15% | 62% |
| Much more likely | 9% | 2% | 24% | 2% |
| A little more likely | 12% | 10% | 18% | 3% |
| A little less likely | 10% | 7% | 12% | 11% |
| Much less likely | 23% | 37% | 3% | 51% |
| Makes no difference | 39% | 42% | 39% | 32% |
| Don’t know | 7% | 2% | 3% | 1% |
39% of people think the election of Tony Abbott as leader of the Liberal Party makes no difference to whether or not they will vote Liberal, 33% think it will make them less likely and 21% more likely to vote Liberal.
42% of Coalition voters think the election of Tony Abbott as leader of the Liberal Party will make them more likely to vote Liberal, 15% think that it will make them less likely and 39% think it will make no difference. 44% of Labor voters and 62% of Green voters think it will make them less likely to vote Liberal.
Females were more likely than males to indicate that the election of Tony Abbott as leader of the Liberal Party will make no difference to their vote (43% v 35%).
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd?
| 29 June 09 | 7 Dec 09 | Difference | |
| Intelligent | 84% | 82% | -2% |
| Hard-working | 83% | 77% | -6% |
| A capable leader | 72% | 69% | -3% |
| Demanding | 67% | 60% | -7% |
| Arrogant | 46% | 49% | +3% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 41% | 45% | +4% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 67% | 59% | -8% |
| Visionary | 49% | 48% | -1% |
| Superficial | 40% | 41% | +1% |
| Good in a crisis | 60% | 58% | -2% |
| Narrow-minded | 32% | 36% | +4% |
| Down to earth | 56% | 55% | -1% |
| Too inflexible | 32% | 38% | +6% |
| Complacent | 28% | 38% | +10% |
| More honest than most politicians | 47% | 49% | +2% |
| Trustworthy | * | 51% | * |
*Not asked in June 2009
Most people consider Rudd intelligent (82%), hard-working (77%), a capable leader (69%) and demanding (60%).
Since we last asked this question in June 2009, Rudd has lost points on qualities such as understanding the problems facing Australia (-8%), demanding (-7%) and hard-working (-6%). Rudd has gained points in terms of being complacent (+10%), too inflexible (+6%), out of touch with ordinary people (+4%) and narrow-minded (+4%).
Q. Which of the following describe your opinion of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott?
| Abbott
7 Dec 09 |
Turnbull
29 June 09 |
Rudd
7 Dec 09 |
Abbott lead over Turnbull | Abbott lead over Rudd | |
| Intelligent | 71% | 75% | 82% | -4% | -11% |
| Hard-working | 69% | 68% | 77% | +1% | -8% |
| A capable leader | 46% | 39% | 69% | +7% | -23% |
| Demanding | 53% | 62% | 60% | -9% | -7% |
| Arrogant | 53% | 69% | 49% | -16% | +4% |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 53% | 65% | 45% | -12% | +8% |
| Understands the problems facing Australia | 46% | 48% | 59% | -2% | -13% |
| Visionary | 34% | 26% | 48% | +8% | -14% |
| Superficial | 42% | 51% | 41% | -9% | +1% |
| Good in a crisis | 39% | 32% | 58% | +7% | -19% |
| Narrow-minded | 52% | 51% | 36% | +1% | +16% |
| Down to earth | 46% | 25% | 55% | +21% | -9% |
| Too inflexible | 45% | 47% | 38% | -2% | +7% |
| Complacent | 31% | 38% | 38% | -7% | -7% |
| More honest than most politicians | 31% | 16% | 49% | +15% | -18% |
| Trustworthy | 36% | * | 51% | * | -15% |
*Not asked in June 2009 poll
When it comes to rating Abbott, people think he is intelligent (71%) and hard-working (69%), yet demanding (53%), arrogant (53%) and out of touch with ordinary people (53%).
Abbott scores higher than his predecessor Turnbull in terms of qualities such as being down to earth (+21%), more honest than most politicians (+15%), visionary (+8%), capable leader (+7%) and good in a crisis (+7%).
Males were slightly more likely than females to think that Abbott is superficial (46% v 39%), honest (34% v 28%), visionary (37% v 32%) and down to earth (48% v 43%).
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 20 Feb 2012
551
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