28
Muslim Migrants
Q. In your view, should the Australian government exclude Muslims from our migrant intake?
(Question commissioned by Network Ten)
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 55+ | |
| Yes | 25% | 21% | 33% | 8% | 26% | 25% | 19% | 26% | 31% |
| No | 55% | 62% | 49% | 83% | 55% | 54% | 56% | 57% | 49% |
| Don’t know/Refused | 20% | 17% | 18% | 8% | 19% | 21% | 25% | 17% | 20% |
25% of respondents believed that the Australian government should exclude Muslims from our migrant intake and 55% disagreed. Those most likely to think Muslims should be excluded from our migration intake were Liberal/National voters (33%) and people aged 55+ (31%).
Download the Network Ten Essential Question of the Week (1.1 MB pdf)
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 =1,964
| First preference/leaning to | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Liberal | 42% | 41% | 40% | 42% | |
| National | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | |
| Total Lib/Nat | 43.6 | 45% | 44% | 43% | 45% |
| Labor | 38.0 | 37% | 40% | 39% | 37% |
| Greens | 11.8 | 11% | 10% | 11% | 10% |
| Other/Independent | 6.6 | 7% | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| 2PP | Election
21 Aug 10 |
4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week |
| Total Lib/Nat | 49.9% | 51% | 50% | 49% | 52% |
| Labor | 50.1% | 49% | 50% | 51% | 48% |
NB. The data in the above tables comprise 2-week averages derived 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.
28
Liberal party Leadership
Q. Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Liberal Party?
| 27 Sep 10 | 28 February 2011 | ||||
| Total | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Tony Abbott | 26% | 24% | 9% | 45% | 1% |
| Malcolm Turnbull | 20% | 18% | 24% | 16% | 29% |
| Joe Hockey | 15% | 16% | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Julie Bishop | 5% | 4% | 6% | 2% | 4% |
| Andrew Robb | na | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| Someone else | na | 14% | 18% | 8% | 27% |
| Don’t know | 33% | 22% | 23% | 10% | 20% |
24% of respondents believed that Tony Abbott is the best leader of the Liberal Party, 18% prefer Malcolm Turnbull and 16% Joe Hockey.
Tony Abbott is preferred by 45% of Liberal/National voters while Malcolm Turnbull is preferred by Labor (24%) and Greens voters (29%).
Tony Abbott is more preferred by men (30%) – women are split between Tony Abbott (19%) and Joe Hockey (19%). 23% of men prefer Malcolm Turnbull compared to 14% of women.
These figures are little changed since the question was last asked in September 2010.
Q. Overall, has multiculturalism (that is, the acceptance of people from different countries, cultures and religions) made a positive or negative contribution to Australian society?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total positive | 57% | 65% | 54% | 75% |
| Total negative | 29% | 24% | 36% | 12% |
| Very positive | 15% | 20% | 10% | 34% |
| Positive | 42% | 45% | 44% | 41% |
| Negative | 18% | 16% | 21% | 9% |
| Very negative | 11% | 8% | 15% | 9% |
| Made no difference | 6% | 6% | 5% | 3% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
57% believe that multiculturalism has made a positive contribution to Australian society and 29% believe the contribution has been negative. A majority of all party voter groups believe the contribution has been positive.
Older respondents tend to have a more negative view – those aged 55+ were split 48% positive/45% negative while those aged under 35 were 65% positive and 18% negative.
28
Immigration and Religion
Q. When a family applies to migrate to Australia, should it be possible for them to be rejected purely on the basis of their religion?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Should be rejected on basis of religion | 19% | 17% | 24% | 10% |
| Should not be rejected on basis of religion | 65% | 67% | 63% | 85% |
| Don’t know | 15% | 16% | 13% | 5% |
65% believed that when a family applies to migrate to Australia, they should not be rejected purely on the basis of their religion and 19% think it should be possible to reject purely based on religion. There were no substantial differences across age and gender groups.
Liberal voters were a little more supportive of being able to reject based on religion (24%) and Greens voters were strongly opposed (85%).
Q. Are you concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total concerned | 57% | 50% | 69% | 32% |
| Total not concerned | 38% | 46% | 28% | 68% |
| Very Concerned | 28% | 21% | 37% | 12% |
| Somewhat concerned | 29% | 29% | 32% | 20% |
| Not very concerned | 21% | 23% | 19% | 27% |
| Not at all concerned | 17% | 23% | 9% | 41% |
| Don’t know/Refused | 5% | 4% | 2% | - |
57% were very or somewhat concerned about the number of Muslim people in Australia while 38% were not very or not at all concerned. Concern is higher among Liberal/National voters (69%) and lower among Greens voters (32%). 72% of people aged 55+ say they are concerned.
Level of concern is related to perceptions of the number of Muslim people in Australia. The table below shows that those who think there are higher numbers of Muslims in Australia are much more likely to be concerned.
| Estimated % Muslims in Australia | |||||
| Total | 1-2% | 3-5% | 6-10% | Over 10% | |
| Total concerned | 57% | 44% | 52% | 68% | 79% |
| Total not concerned | 38% | 54% | 46% | 31% | 19% |
28
Fastest Growing Religion
Q. Which of the following religions do you think has grown the fastest in Australia during the 10 years between 1996 and 2006, when the last national census was taken?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Christianity (including Catholic, Uniting Church, Anglican, etc) | 8% | 7% | 11% | 7% |
| Hinduism | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Islam (Muslim) | 57% | 58% | 64% | 50% |
| Buddhism | 5% | 3% | 4% | 11% |
| Judaism (Jewish) | * | 1% | - | - |
| Don’t know/Refuse | 27% | 29% | 19% | 27% |
57% believe that Islam is the fastest growing religion in Australia. This perception is broadly similar across all age/gender groups – although a little higher for Liberal/National voters (64%) and those aged 55+ (65%).
28
Muslims in Australia
Q. What percentage of Australian residents do you think are Muslim?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| 1% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| 2% | 11% | 10% | 14% | 9% |
| 3-5% | 26% | 26% | 25% | 37% |
| 6-10% | 20% | 19% | 22% | 18% |
| More than 10% | 19% | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 20% | 13% | 11% |
17% think that Muslims make up 1-2% of Australia’s population, 26% think they make up 3-5% and 39% think it is over 5%. The actual figure is 1.7% – meaning 65% have over-estimated the number of Muslims in Australia.
There were only minor differences between age, gender and voter groups.
Q. The 2006 Census figures show that in fact the fastest growing religions in Australia are Hinduism, Buddhism and then Islam. Presently, only 1.71% of the Australian population identifies as Muslim. In light of this information, how concerned are you about the number of Muslim people in Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total concerned | 50% | 43% | 62% | 22% |
| Total not concerned | 45% | 54% | 35% | 76% |
| Very Concerned | 22% | 18% | 29% | 11% |
| Somewhat concerned | 28% | 25% | 33% | 11% |
| Not very concerned | 26% | 27% | 24% | 32% |
| Not at all concerned | 19% | 27% | 11% | 44% |
| Don’t know | 5% | 4% | 4% | 1% |
After being given some information about the number of Muslims in Australia, 50% said they were still very/somewhat concerned and 45% said they were not very or not at all concerned. This represents a 7% fall in level of concern from the question asked before this information was given to respondents.
All demographic and voter groups showed a similar fall in level of concern.
Q. Do you think some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes or do you think these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes | 61% | 66% | 55% | 80% |
| These politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future | 27% | 21% | 37% | 14% |
| Don’t know | 12% | 12% | 7% | 5% |
61% believed that some politicians raise issues of race and religion for political purposes just to generate votes and 27% thought these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future.
Those most likely to think these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future were Liberal/National voters (37%) – and among people aged 55+, 34% thought these politicians are genuinely concerned about Australia’s future and 58% thought they use race and religion for political purposes.
21
Trust in Federal Leaders
Q. Who do you trust most to deliver good policies for Australia’s future?
(Question commissioned by Network Ten)
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Julia Gillard | 40% | 81% | 5% | 62% |
| Tony Abbott | 31% | 1% | 72% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 29% | 18% | 23% | 36% |
40% have most trust in Julia Gillard to deliver good policies for Australia’s future and 31% trust Tony Abbott most.
Opinions closely follow party preference although Julia Gillard is overwhelmingly trusted more by Greens voters (62% to 2%).
Women are less trusting of Tony Abbott – 40% of men trust Julia Gillard and 36% trust Tony Abbott while 41% of women trust Julia Gillard and only 26% trust Tony Abbott.
Younger people are also less likely to trust Tony Abbott – those aged 55+ trust Tony Abbott (44%) more than Julia Gillard (36%) while those aged under 35 trust Julia Gillard more (42% Gillard/24% Abbott).
Download the Network Ten Essential Question of the Week. (1.1 MB pdf)
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 20 Feb 2012
551
Subscribe Now
Subscribe to receive the Essential Report
in your email each week