Q. Actually, the number of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat has fallen by more than half in 2011 compared to 2010. Based on that information, now how concerned are you about the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Very concerned | 33% | 24% | 43% | 9% |
| Somewhat concerned | 25% | 27% | 30% | 11% |
| A little concerned | 20% | 23% | 17% | 26% |
| Not at all concerned | 19% | 25% | 8% | 50% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 2% | 1% | 3% |
When told that the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat had fallen by more than half, 33% said they were very concerned (down 10% from the earlier question), 25% somewhat concerned (up 1%) and 39% a little or not concerned (up 9%).
The shifts were similar across all demographic groups.
Q. The Government has recently made an agreement to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia for processing, and in return Australia will take a fixed number of refugees from Malaysia. Do you support or oppose this agreement?
| 16 June 11 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total support | 40% | 31% | 50% | 25% | 19% |
| Total oppose | 39% | 53% | 31% | 67% | 60% |
| Strongly support | 13% | 6% | 9% | 4% | 3% |
| Support | 27% | 25% | 41% | 21% | 16% |
| Oppose | 22% | 23% | 17% | 24% | 35% |
| Strongly oppose | 17% | 30% | 14% | 43% | 25% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 16% | 18% | 9% | 21% |
31% support the agreement to send asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing and 53% oppose. This represents a significant increase in opposition to this scheme from that recorded 6 weeks ago – support is down 9% and opposition up 14%.
This shift is mainly due to changed opinions of Liberal/National voters. Support from Labor voters is up 3% to 50% while opposition from Liberal/National voters has increased by 22% to 67%. Opposition from Greens voters has also increased by 9% to 60%.
Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Heard a lot | Heard something | Heard a little/ nothing | |
| Total support | 40% | 47% | 40% | 27% | 34% | 42% | 46% |
| Total oppose | 39% | 33% | 45% | 51% | 60% | 39% | 28% |
| Strongly support | 13% | 13% | 15% | 4% | 14% | 11% | 15% |
| Support | 27% | 34% | 25% | 23% | 20% | 31% | 31% |
| Oppose | 22% | 21% | 24% | 31% | 26% | 24% | 20% |
| Strongly oppose | 17% | 12% | 21% | 20% | 34% | 15% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 20% | 14% | 23% | 6% | 19% | 27% |
40% support the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia and 39% oppose.
Those who say they have heard more about it are more likely to oppose this proposal. Only 34% of those who have heard a lot about it support the proposal compared to 46% of those who have heard a little or nothing. There were not substantial differences by gender or age.
Q. Which party would you trust most to handle the issue of asylum seekers?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| The Labor Party | 25% | 57% | 2% | 38% |
| The Liberal Party | 37% | 8% | 80% | 8% |
| No difference | 25% | 27% | 11% | 46% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
37% of respondents trust the Liberal Party most to handle the asylum seeker issue and 25% trust the Labor Party most.
57% of Labor voters trust the Labor Party most and 80% of Liberal/National voters trust the Liberal Party most. 46% of Greens voters and 55% of other voters think there is no difference between the Labor and Liberal Parties on the issue.
Q. Thinking about the way the Federal Government has handled the asylum seeker issue recently, do you think they have been too tough, too weak or have they taken about the right approach?
| % | |
| Too tough | 9% |
| Too weak | 52% |
| Taken about the right approach | 28% |
| Don’t know | 11% |
Just over half (52%) think that the Federal Government has been too weak in how it has handled the asylum seeker issue recently, 28% think the Government have taken the right approach and 9% think they have been too tough.
Males were more likely than females to think the Federal Government has been too weak (55% v 49%).
People aged 55 years and over were more likely than 18 – 24 year olds to think the Government’s action has been too weak (64% v 32%).
Labor voters were more likely to think the Federal Government has taken about the right approach (43%), Coalition voters were more likely to think the Government has been too weak (76%) and Green voters were more likely to think the Government’s approach has been too tough (33%).
43% of Labor voters think the Federal Government has been too weak in its handling of the asylum seeker issue recently.
Q. Which party do you think would be best at handling the issue of asylum seekers?
| % | |
| Labor | 23% |
| Liberal | 27% |
| No difference | 37% |
| Don’t know | 13% |
27% of people surveyed think Liberal is the best party at handling the issue of asylum seekers, 23% think Labor is and 37% think there is no difference in how the two major parties would handle the issue.
Attitudes followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to prefer Liberal (65%) and Labor voters more likely to prefer Labor (65%).
54% of Green, 38% of Labor voters and 24% of Coalition voters think there is no difference between how Liberal or Labor would handle the issue of asylum seekers.
People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think Liberal would be best (36% Liberal to 22% Labor), while people aged under 35 were more likely to think Labor would be best at handling the issue of asylum seekers (27% Labor to 20% Liberal).
Males were more likely to think Liberal would be the party best to handle the issue (31%), while females were more likely to think there is no difference (40%).
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 05 March 12
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