7
Balance of Power
Q. Do you think the independents and Greens holding the balance of power in Parliament has been good or bad for Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total good | 27% | 33% | 12% | 83% |
| Total bad | 41% | 25% | 66% | 2% |
| Very good | 7% | 8% | 1% | 34% |
| Good | 20% | 25% | 11% | 49% |
| Neither good nor bad | 33% | 41% | 22% | 15% |
| Bad | 22% | 18% | 29% | 2% |
| Very bad | 19% | 7% | 37% | - |
27% think that the independents and Greens holding the balance of power in Parliament has been good for Australia and 41% think it has been bad.
Greens voters overwhelmingly think it has been good (83%) while two-thirds of Coalition voters think it has been bad. Labor voters are somewhat split – 33% good/25% bad/41% neither. Older respondents were more likely to think it was bad – those aged under 35 split 32% good/29% bad while those aged 55+ split 21% good/52% bad.
Q. Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the decisions the independents have reached about which party they will support?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Vote ind/other | |
| Total approve | 41% | 82% | 5% | 72% | 40% |
| Total disapprove | 45% | 6% | 89% | 14% | 34% |
| Strongly approve | 12% | 29% | * | 15% | 3% |
| Approve | 29% | 53% | 5% | 57% | 37% |
| Disapprove | 20% | 5% | 35% | 11% | 18% |
| Strongly disapprove | 25% | 1% | 54% | 3% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 12% | 5% | 14% | 27% |
Respondents were split over the independents’ decision about the party to support – 41% approve and 45% disapprove.
82% of Labor voters and 72% of Greens voters approve while 89% of Coalition voters disapprove (and 54% strongly disapprove). Voters for independents and other parties split 40% approve/34% disapprove. Comments »
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the agreement between the Labor Party and the Greens for the Greens to give their support to the Labor Party?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total approve | 41% | 84% | 4% | 79% |
| Total disapprove | 46% | 7% | 90% | 10% |
| Strongly approve | 12% | 27% | - | 30% |
| Approve | 29% | 57% | 4% | 49% |
| Disapprove | 18% | 4% | 32% | 8% |
| Strongly disapprove | 28% | 3% | 58% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 14% | 10% | 6% | 13% |
Respondents were also split over the agreement between the Labor Party and the Greens for the Greens to give their support to the Labor Party – 41% approve and 46% disapprove – with views closely associated with party preferences.
84% of Labor voters and 79% of Greens voters approve while 90% of Coalition voters disapprove (and 58% strongly disapprove). Comments »
6
Minority Government
Q. After the election neither the Labor Party nor the Coalition has a majority in the House of Representatives – they need the support of independents to govern. Do you think this will result in a better or worse Government for Australia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total better | 30% | 37% | 19% | 47% |
| Total worse | 42% | 33% | 62% | 30% |
| A lot better | 8% | 10% | 3% | 12% |
| A little better | 22% | 27% | 16% | 35% |
| A little worse | 22% | 19% | 28% | 23% |
| A lot worse | 20% | 14% | 34% | 7% |
| Make no difference | 15% | 16% | 11% | 10% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 14% | 8% | 13% |
42% believe that a minority Government supported by the independents will result in a worse Government for Australia and 30% think it will be a better Government. Liberal/National voters are more likely to think it would be a worse Government (62%) while 47% of Greens voters think it would be a better Government. Labor voters are split – 37% better/33% worse.
Older voters are most likely to think it would be a worse Government – of those aged 55+, 47% say worse and 28% better. Comments »
Essential Report
Two Party Preferred: 30 Jan 2012
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