The Essential Report 10 August 2020
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The Essential Report 10 August 2020 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU The Essential Report Date: 10/08/2020 Prepared By: Essential Research Data Supplied by: Our researchers are members of the Australian Market and Social Research Society. Page 2 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU About this poll This report summarises the results of a fortnightly omnibus conducted by Essential Research with data provided by Qualtrics. The survey was conducted online from 6th to 9th August 2020 and is based on 1,010 respondents. The methodology used to carry out this research is described in the appendix at the end of the report. Note that due to rounding, not all tables necessarily total 100% and subtotals may also vary. Page 3 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Performance of Scott Morrison Q Do you approve or disapprove of the job Scott Morrison is doing as Prime Minister? Aug’20 Jul’20 Jun’20 May’20 Apr’20 Mar’20 Feb’20 Jan’20 Dec’19 Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 TOTAL: Approve 66% 63% 65% 64% 59% 41% 39% 40% 45% 45% 47% 49% TOTAL: Disapprove 23% 27% 26% 27% 31% 49% 52% 52% 43% 41% 38% 36% Don’t know 11% 10% 8% 9% 10% 10% 9% 8% 13% 13% 15% 15% Base (n) 1,010 1,054 1,059 1,093 1,069 1,096 1,056 1,081 1,035 1,075 1,088 1,093 Federal Voting Intention Total Labor Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other Strongly approve 24% 15% 46% 2% 14% Approve 42% 40% 45% 39% 47% Disapprove 14% 20% 4% 37% 16% Strongly disapprove 9% 15% 2% 17% 10% Don’t know 11% 10% 4% 5% 14% TOTAL: Approve 66% 56% 91% 40% 61% TOTAL: Disapprove 23% 35% 6% 54% 26% Base (n) 1,010 311 413 78 94 - The Prime Minister’s approval rating is on par with the previous month, now at 66% compared to 63% in July. - Approval of the Prime Minister among is at 91% among Coalition supporters, over half among Labor voters (56%) but lower among Greens voters (40%). 61% of those intending to vote for a minor party or independent candidate approve of the PM. Page 4 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Performance of Anthony Albanese Q Do you approve or disapprove of the job Anthony Albanese is doing as Opposition Leader? Aug’20 Jul’20 Jun’20 May’20 Apr’20 Mar’20 Feb’20 Jan’20 Dec’19 Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 TOTAL: Approve 44% 44% 43% 42% 44% 41% 41% 43% 39% 37% 40% 36% TOTAL: Disapprove 30% 28% 30% 27% 29% 33% 31% 30% 28% 34% 29% 31% Don’t know 25% 28% 26% 31% 27% 26% 28% 27% 33% 29% 31% 33% Base (n) 1,010 1,054 1,059 1,093 1,069 1,096 1,056 1,081 1,035 1,075 1,088 1,093 Federal Voting Intention Total Labor Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other Strongly approve 11% 22% 6% 8% 2% Approve 33% 47% 31% 46% 15% Disapprove 20% 13% 28% 15% 26% Strongly disapprove 10% 2% 18% 8% 21% Don’t know 25% 15% 18% 23% 36% TOTAL: Approve 44% 70% 36% 53% 17% TOTAL: Disapprove 30% 15% 46% 24% 47% Base (n) 1,010 311 413 78 94 - The Opposition Leader’s approval rating is consistent this month, at 44%, the same in July (44%). - Albanese’s approval among Labor voters remains relatively low at 70%, compared to Morrison’s approval among Coalition voters (91%). Page 5 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Preferred Prime Minister Q Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister out of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese? Aug’20 Jul’20 Jun’20 May’20 Apr’20 Mar’20 Feb’20 Jan’20 Nov’19 Oct’19 Sep’19 Aug’19 Scott Morrison 52% 50% 53% 50% 46% 40% 36% 36% 44% 43% 46% 44% Anthony Albanese 22% 27% 23% 25% 27% 35% 36% 39% 28% 28% 25% 28% Don’t know 26% 23% 24% 25% 27% 25% 28% 25% 29% 29% 29% 28% Base (n) 1,010 1,054 1,059 1,093 1,069 1,096 1,056 1,081 1,075 1,088 1,093 1,096 Federal Voting Intention Total Labor Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other Scott Morrison 52% 29% 84% 32% 59% Anthony Albanese 22% 45% 7% 37% 9% Don’t know 26% 26% 9% 30% 31% Base (n) 1,010 311 413 78 94 - Half of participants believe that Scott Morrison would make a better PM than Anthony Albanese (52% to 22%). Still a quarter (26%) of participants don’t know who would make the better PM. - Morrison is strongly favoured by Coalition voters, with 84% believing Morrison makes the better PM, compared to Albanese (7%). - Less than half of Labor voters believe Albanese would make the better PM (45%) compared to Morrison (29%). 26% said they didn’t know who would make the better leader. Page 6 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Most important issues when voting Q If a federal election were held today, how important would the following issues be in deciding which party you vote for? Neither Quite A little A little Quite Very Very important important nor important important unimportant unimportant unimportant unimportant Stop community transmission of 62% 18% 7% 7% 2% 1% 4% Covid-19 as soon as possible Manage the economy 54% 25% 10% 7% 1% 2% 3% Create jobs 51% 27% 10% 7% 1% 2% 3% Provide support for those in 42% 31% 14% 7% 2% 2% 2% financial need Reduce national debt 34% 28% 17% 12% 3% 3% 3% Work with other countries’ 34% 32% 16% 11% 2% 2% 2% leaders appropriately Improve the education system 33% 31% 19% 11% 3% 2% 2% Page 7 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Federal Voting Intention VERY IMPORTANT Total Labor Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other Stop community transmission of Covid-19 as soon as 62% 64% 64% 49% 64% possible Manage the economy 54% 54% 66% 29% 63% Create jobs 51% 53% 54% 33% 57% Provide support for those in financial need 42% 49% 39% 38% 45% Reduce national debt 34% 31% 41% 19% 45% Work with other countries’ leaders appropriately 34% 39% 35% 23% 31% Improve the education system 33% 39% 28% 28% 27% Base (n) 1,010 311 413 78 94 - Stopping community transmission of Covid-19 as soon as possible is the most important issue at present with 62% of participants saying it’s ‘very important’ compared to more than half who said ‘manage the economy’ (54%). - At this time, reducing the national debt (34%), working with international leaders (34%) and improving the education system (33%) were seen of lesser importance. Page 8 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Federal government better at Q Do you think a Federal Government led by Labor or the Coalition would be better at…? Coalition Labor Neither Reducing national debt 45% 27% 28% Managing the economy 45% 32% 24% Stopping community transmission of Covid-19 as soon as 39% 31% 30% possible Working with other countries’ leaders appropriately 38% 34% 28% Creating jobs 37% 40% 23% Supporting those in financial need 35% 43% 22% Improving the education system 32% 41% 27% - A Coalition government is thought to be better than Labor at governance issues such as recovering the economy from Covid-19 (46% Coalition), reducing national debt (45%) and managing the economy (44%). - Elements where Labor is seen to do a better job than the Coalition is in improving the education system (41%), supporting those in financial need (43%) an creating jobs (40%). - Across all issues between one-fifth (22%) and almost a third (30%) of participants believe that neither party would be better at any of the listed elements. Page 9 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Trust in institutions Q How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations? TOTAL: Low Have a lot of Have some Have little Have no trust TOTAL: Trust Unsure trust trust trust trust at all State & federal health authorities 69% 25% 28% 41% 18% 7% 6% Australia’s border security 67% 26% 21% 46% 17% 8% 7% agencies Police, courts and the justice 64% 30% 22% 42% 20% 9% 6% system State or territory government 60% 34% 23% 37% 23% 11% 6% The ABC 58% 34% 24% 34% 23% 11% 8% The Commonwealth public 56% 36% 14% 41% 29% 7% 8% service Federal parliament 55% 37% 17% 38% 26% 11% 8% News on commercial TV & radio 45% 49% 10% 35% 35% 14% 6% Print media 39% 55% 7% 31% 36% 18% 7% - Participants have most trust in state & federal health authorities (69%) and Australia’s border security agencies (67%). - News on commercial TV & radio (45%) and print media (39%) are trusted by less than half of participants. Page 10 / 24 ESSENTIALMEDIA.COM.AU Government response to Covid-19 Q Overall, how would you rate the Government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak? 10/08 27/07 13/07 22/06 15/06 08/06 01/06 25/05 18/05 11/05 04/05 Very poor 7% 6% 6% 4% 3% 4% 5% 4% 3% 4% 4% Quite poor 8% 11% 10% 8% 8% 8% 7% 6% 7% 9% 9% Neither good, nor poor 21% 20% 20% 17% 16% 18% 20% 16% 17% 16% 20% Quite good 40% 40% 40% 43% 42% 40% 39% 43% 41% 39% 38% Very good 24% 24% 24% 27% 30% 30% 28% 30% 32% 32% 28% TOTAL: Poor 16% 16% 16% 12% 11% 12% 12% 11% 11% 13% 14% TOTAL: Good 63% 64% 64% 71% 72% 70% 68% 73% 73% 71% 66% Base (n) 1,010 1,058 1,054 1,079 1,087 1,073 1,059 1,087 1,073 1,067 1,093 - Participants’ rating of the Federal Government’s handling of the crisis remains stable with 63% rating their response as very or quite good.