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. 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?
1,842 sample size
| First preference/leaning to | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Liberal | 34% | 39% | 38% | 38% | 37% |
| National | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Total Lib/Nat | 37% | 41% | 40% | 41% | 40% |
| Labor | 47% | 40% | 37% | 35% | 38% |
| Greens | 8% | 10% | 12% | 14% | 11% |
| Family First | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| Other/Independent | 6% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 8% |
| 2PP | 6 months ago | 4 weeks ago | 2 weeks ago | Last week | This week
|
| Total Lib/Nat | 43% | 48% | 48% | 49% | 48% |
| Labor | 57% | 52% | 52% | 51% | 52% |
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.
* Sample is the aggregation of two weeks’ polling data. Comments »
Q. Do you think Tony Abbott is the best person to lead the Liberal Party to the next election or would the Liberal Party have a better chance of winning the next election if they changed leaders?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| Tony Abbott is the best person to lead the Liberal Party to the next election | 29% | 14% | 62% |
| The Liberal Party would have a better chance of winning the next election if they changed leaders | 47% | 65% | 25% |
| Don’t know | 24% | 21% | 13% |
47% of respondents thought the Liberal Party would have a better chance of winning the next election if they changed leader – 29% thought Tony Abbott was the best person to be leader.
Liberal/National voters supported Tony Abbott as leader by 62% to 25%. 79% of Greens voters and 49% of other/independent voters thought the Liberal Party should change their leader. Men (34%) and those aged 65+ (34%) were the strongest supporters of Tony Abbott remaining as leader. Comments »
21
Best Leader – Rudd/Abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | 22 Mar 10 | ||
| Kevin Rudd | 47% | 90% | 9% | 50% | |
| Tony Abbott | 30% | 3% | 80% | 30% | |
| Don’t know | 23% | 7% | 11% | 19% |
47% believe that Kevin Rudd would make the best Prime Minister and 30% preferred Tony Abbott. This is little changed since the last time this question was asked when Kevin Rudd was preferred 50% to 30%.
Men preferred Kevin Rudd by 45% to 38%, whereas women were much less likely to prefer Tony Abbott (Rudd 49%, Abbott 23%). Greens voters preferred Kevin Rudd 64% to 9%. Comments »
21
Best Leader – Rudd/Gillard
Q7. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | 15 Feb 10 | ||
| Kevin Rudd | 36% | 56% | 26% | 45% | |
| Julia Gillard | 33% | 30% | 36% | 26% | |
| Don’t know | 31% | 14% | 38% | 29% |
Respondents were fairly evenly split over whether Kevin Rudd (36%) or Julia Gillard (33%) would make the better Prime Minister. This is a substantial change since this question was last asked in February – Julia Gillard up 7% and Kevin Rudd down 9%.
Labor voters preferred Kevin Rudd (56% to 30%) and Liberal voters preferred Julia Gillard (36% to 26%). Greens voters preferred Julia Gillard by 62% to 18%.
Men show greater support for Kevin Rudd (40%/33%) whereas women were evenly divided (32%/34%). Comments »
21
Best Leader – Gillard/Abbott
Q. Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| Tony Abbott | 32% | 6% | 76% |
| Julia Gillard | 50% | 85% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 18% | 9% | 8% |
50% believe that Julia Gillard would make the better Prime Minister and 32% prefer Tony Abbott.
There were major differences by gender – men preferred Julia Gillard by a margin of 7% (47%/40%) whereas the margin among women was 28% (53%/25%). Greens voters preferred Julia Gillard 83% to 8%. Comments »
21
Troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | March 09 | ||
| Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan | 7% | 7% | 7% | 14% | |
| Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan | 24% | 25% | 32% | 24% | |
| Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan | 61% | 61% | 55% | 50% | |
| Don’t know | 8% | 7% | 6% | 12% |
61% of respondents think Australia should withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, 24% think we should keep the same number and 7% think we should increase numbers. Support for withdrawal of troops has increased by 11% since this question was asked in March last year.
There was majority support for withdrawal of troops across all demographic groups and voter types. 55% of Liberal/National voters, 61% of Labor voters and 75% of Greens voters support withdrawal of Australia’s troops. Comments »
15
Trust in Groups
Q. And how much trust do you have in the following groups to represent the interests of people like you?
| Total a lot/some trust | A lot of trust | Some trust | A little trust | No trust at all | Don’t know | |
| Environment groups | 38% | 8% | 30% | 28% | 22% | 11% |
| Unions | 33% | 8% | 25% | 27% | 30% | 10% |
| Business lobby groups | 21% | 4% | 17% | 30% | 35% | 15% |
| Religious groups | 20% | 5% | 15% | 24% | 43% | 13% |
| Mining companies | 20% | 2% | 18% | 27% | 40% | 13% |
| Banks | 15% | 2% | 13% | 26% | 49% | 10% |
| The media | 14% | 1% | 13% | 33% | 43% | 9% |
38% said they have a lot or some trust in environment groups and 33% have a lot/some trust in unions. Banks (15%) and the media (14%) were the least trusted groups.
49% had no trust at all in banks and 43% had no trust at all in religious groups and the media.
51% of Labor voters have trust in unions and 47% have trust in environment groups. The most trusted groups for Liberal/National voters are mining companies (32%) and business lobby groups (31%). Comments »
15
RSPT
Q. Which of the following statements is closest to your view in relation to the Government’s proposed resources super profits tax?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | |
| The new tax will result in mining companies cutting back on their investments in Australia and there will be a significant loss of Australian jobs | 42% | 16% | 72% |
| Mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax. | 40% | 69% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 17% | 15% | 11% |
Respondents were split over which statement best described their view of the Government’s proposed resources super profits tax – 42% agreed “the new tax will result in mining companies cutting back on their investments in Australia and there will be a significant loss of Australian jobs” and 40% agreed “mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax”.
Opinions were strongly related to party preference – 69% of Labor voters agreed that “mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax” and 72% of Liberal/National voters agreed that “the new tax will result in mining companies cutting back on their investments in Australia and there will be a significant loss of Australian jobs”.
53% of those on low incomes (<$600pw) agreed that “mining companies will continue to make large profits. They are just trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax”. Comments »
Q. Do you think the salaries of the following occupations are too low, too high or bout right?
| Too high | Too low | About right | Don’t know | |
| CEO’s of large companies | 84% | 2% | 7% | 7% |
| Members of Parliament | 62% | 6% | 24% | 8% |
| Tradesmen | 29% | 16% | 44% | 11% |
| Doctors | 27% | 15% | 46% | 12% |
| Public servants – clerical and admin | 26% | 15% | 44% | 15% |
| Bank customer service staff | 12% | 18% | 47% | 23% |
| Office workers in private companies – clerical and admin | 7% | 24% | 54% | 16% |
| Workers in call centres | 8% | 25% | 42% | 25% |
| Shop sales staff | 3% | 40% | 42% | 14% |
| Teachers | 8% | 45% | 38% | 8% |
| Police | 5% | 55% | 27% | 12% |
| Aged care workers | 2% | 76% | 12% | 10% |
The majority believe that the salaries of CEO’s of large companies (84%) and members of Parliament (62%) are too high.
Occupations where salaries were considered too low were aged care workers (76%), police (55%) and teachers (45%). Comments »
Q. Do you think the Federal Labor Government is too tough or too soft on asylum seekers or is it taking the right approach?
| % | |
| Too tough | 6% |
| Too soft | 65% |
| Taking the right approach | 18% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
Most people (65%) think the Federal Labor Government is too soft on asylum seekers, 18% think the Government is taking the right approach, 6% think they are too tough and 11% don’t know.
Labor voters were more likely to think the Government is taking the right approach (31%), Coalition voters were more likely to think the Government is being too soft (90%) and Green voters were more likely to think the approach is too tough (24%).
56% of Labor voters and 25% of Green voters think the Government is being too soft on asylum seekers.
18 – 24 year olds were more likely to think the Government is taking the right approach (29%), while people aged 55 years and over were more likely to think the Government is too soft on asylum seekers (76%).
Males were more likely than females to think the Government is being too soft (69% v 62%).
When we asked a similar question in April last year, we found that 55% thought the Government was being too soft on asylum seekers, 26% thought the Government’s approach was about right and 4% thought the Government was too tough. Comments »
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 05 March 12
56+/- 0
Subscribe Now
Subscribe to receive the Essential Report
in your email each week
Search the Essential Report
Categories
Essential Tags
Comments
- Chhoun Taing on Australia’s Best Prime Minister
- A Smarter Way To Police Pokies | Charters Towers E-village on Pokies Legislation
- One more promise to break « essentialvision.com.au on Return to Surplus
- Green-baiting and the art of product differentiation « essentialvision.com.au on Opinion of NBN
- Green-baiting and the art of product differentiation « essentialvision.com.au on Importance of Climate Change Issue