ReachTEL: ABC, republicanism, Cosgrove v Bryce

ReachTEL gives both sides of the argument something to go on in relation to ABC bias, and finds evidence of conservatism on matters vice-regal and republican.

The Fairfax papers today offer three attitudinal findings from a ReachTEL automated phone poll, which was conducted on Thursday evening from a sample of 2146 respondents:

• After Tony Abbott’s efforts to place the matter on the agenda earlier this week, a question on ABC bias finds 59.6% of respondents saying there is none. However, conservative critics of the public broadcaster can at least point to the fact that many more think it biased to Labor (32.2%) than the Coalition (8.2%). While the result at both ends may have been influenced by Abbott’s activism, it nonetheless offers an interesting supplement to the yearly ABC-commissioned Newspoll surveys, which consistently find overwhelming majorities considering its reporting to be “balanced and even-handed” without probing into respondents’ partisanship. The Sydney Morning Herald’s graphic features breakdowns by age and gender.

• Support for republicanism appears to be at a low ebb, with 39.4% in favour and 41.6% opposed. Tellingly, the 18-34 cohort joins 65-plus in recording a net negative rating (though by a considerably smaller margin), with those in between recording majorities in favour. Age and gender breakdowns here.

• There’s also a question on who is preferred out of the incumbent Governor-General and her designated successor, with 57.1% favouring Peter Cosgrove versus 42.9% for Quentin Bryce. I do wonder though about a method which requires a definite answer from all respondents to such a question, given the number that wouldn’t have an opinion.

UPDATE: And now a further finding from the poll that 52.5% agree that Labor should distance itself from the union movement”, compared with 25.6% who disagree.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

1,716 comments on “ReachTEL: ABC, republicanism, Cosgrove v Bryce”

Comments Page 33 of 35
1 … 32 33 34 35

  1. Psephos@1594: I don’t disagree that the Abbott Government has come across as being rather amateurish, and agree with your example of the way their silly “cone of silence” strategy has worked to prevent them from being able to sell the fact that they have stopped the boats (for now).

    But I also think that, all in all, they are governing a bit better than they are coming across as doing: nothing has gone seriously wrong yet in a policy sense (I’m afraid I don’t buy the arguments that our relationships with Indonesia and China have been ruined in any substantial way, although I would agree that there is some risk).

    What’s really gone wrong for them so far is the way they are coming across to the public: denying journalistic access when it would be better to be open, strange culture war thought bubbles about education and the ABC, overly harsh ideological pronouncements about the “end of the age of entitlement”, etc.

    The best thing they could collectively do right now to improve their popularity is to “shut up and govern”. If they want to belt up the public sector, the ABC, welfare recipients, etc. just go ahead and do it, but stop rambling on in a stupid way about it in public.

    Last week was a good example. They made the right decision about SPC in my opinion, but they way they presented it was a dog’s breakfast of ideological claptrap and union and multinational bashing.

    Hence my point that they need to get their communications strategy together. The best communications strategy I can think of right now is to start making decisions and announcing them in a matter of fact way: the sort of stuff the public expects governments to do.

    So, in a way I’m agreeing with you: they are amateurs. But they’re lack of a targeted, disciplined communications strategy means that they are digging themselves into a bigger hole than they need to be in ATM purely on their performance as a government alone.

  4. Joe Hockey is keeping the show from imploding on itself right now as he’s the only one talking with some sort of direction. An unpopular direction but a direction nonetheless.

    If he pulls the pin, or the ALP starts to get on top of him look out!

  10. I reckon Hockey understands the predicament he’s in regarding the leadership and he now recognises that if he’s going to have any chance of getting out of it, he has to be making the decisions from where he currently is. If that means undermining Abbott’s position (like what’s happened with SPC) then so be it.

  13. meher

    [MTBW@1558. Wouldn’t that argument apply to any ailing business? Where do you draw the line?]

    We are not talking about a city like Sydney or Melbourne we are talking about an area which does not have a lot of industry thus not a lot of jobs.

    As the article posted by Mike Hilliard shows the payment of unemployment benefits would cost much more than the $25 million the Government is offering.

    Where do you reckon they would find another job?

  16. I think I predicted in December that Smith would either resign or be voted out on the first day of sitting this year. Worst. Speaker. Ever. (Though Bronwyn Bishop may yet claim that title.)

  17. Depends on how you define “stop the boats”.

    Does it mean no boats for a defined period of time? If so what timeframe?

    If arrivals are slowed to trickle does that equal “stop the boats”.

    Is a boat intercepted and returned stopped?

    How do you prove a negative?

    Few people care at the level we PB’ers get hung up on things political. I think the average Joe will be happy if an occasional boat arrives and the poor refugees are sent off to PNG or Naru never to be seen again.

  21. Christine Fyffe is deputy speaker and Labor’s preferred choice. Napthine would be tempted to give Labor an “up yours” and pick someone else, but the last thing he wants in an election year is more chaos in parliament because of an unpopular speaker.

    A tweet said that Fyffe was a “no show” (in the House I guess). Not sure what that means.

  22. Importantly, too, there has been over $1 billion of government money invested in the irrigation system over the last few years — which was largely aimed providing fruit growers with certainty.

    There are few other irrigation dependent farms up there which can generate anything like the revenue.

  23. @dave/1617

    How do you prove anything with a ‘cone of silence’?

    Oh regarding the occasional boat arrivals allowed through, quiet a few riots happened during Howard Era at Detention Centres.

  28. [I think the average Joe will be happy if an occasional boat arrives and the poor refugees are sent off to PNG or Naru never to be seen again.]

    I think that’s correct, but nevertheless Abbott did say (many times) that he would stop the boats, not “reduce the number of boats.”

    I think the key criterion is not in fact the number of boats, but the number of people. How many people who set out from Indonesia by boat has the government been forced to accept custody of? Was it less in January than in December? Was it less than January last year? These are the facts we need to have to judge whether this government is succeeding where the last government failed.

  29. …and, of course, giving an aquaculture business in Tasmania money to upgrade their infrastructure so that they can create 100 jobs makes a mockery of the government’s refusal to do the same for SPC and save 5000.

    We really are talking about the future of a whole community here. It’s not the same as shutting down a factory in suburbia.

    For starters, people won’t be able to afford to move – their house values will have already plummetted.

    Towns like this, which once had employment and purpose, where people can’t move away, become rural slums. The human suffering is immense, and can last for generations – look at some of the old SECC towns in the LaTrobe valley to see what happens.

  31. @Psephos/1628

    Your ignoring a key part of which is extreme weather makes it’s difficult to get to Australia in the first place.

  32. If I was holding Coca-Cola Amatil stocks, I’d want my board to tell Abbott to go and get fuacked.

    The company loses millions and millions of shareholder money by keeping SPC Ardmona afloat year on year.

    Enough is enough!

    If it’s tuff titties for the Australian economy – too bad, so sad, shareholder money more important.

    Gee that’s why the big players are going short on Australian stocks – the demise of their manufacturing industry under their newly elected government they say.

  35. poroti, i dont make judgement on the worth of the amount of redundancy….only to say I would expect any regional/rural employees to have above award redundancy (similar for unskilled). I was merely pointing out that with above award redundancy the hit to the budget of staff going onto unemplyment benefits would be delayed.

  36. Hockey’s “end of the age of entitlement” does not apply to Costello:

    [Former Howard government treasurer Peter Costello has been confirmed as the new chair of the Future Fund, as flagged by The Australian Financial Review

    “Mr Costello’s unique experiences and background at the most senior levels in government and in business will be a great asset to the Future Fund Board,” Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finan Senator Cormann said in a statement.]

    http://www.afr.com/p/national/costello_confirmed_as_future_fund_eDiT4ne12LftU6hWq5W9hO

    How many “jobs for the boys” appointments has Costello received now?

  39. [You’re ignoring a key part of which is extreme weather makes it difficult to get to Australia in the first place.]

    This is certainly a relevant factor. Has the weather in the relevant area been worse since October? Has it been worse than in the same period last year? I don’t know.

  41. “@abcnews: #BREAKING: The Reserve Bank has left official interest rates on hold at a record low 2.5 per cent. #interestrates #RBA #finance #auspol”

  42. [An example of the steady driving I think Abbott is doing

    @702sydney: BREAKING- A car is on the beach at #Bondi after crashing and coming down the hill]

    More like Turnbull. It’s his electorate.

  43. @Psephos/1639

    I don’t believe Science is a forte of current Coalition Government 😛

    It’s also very hard to tell, with the Cone of Silence hovering over our heads…

  46. It’s a bit touch for Tory MPs to be drawing attention to allowances in the SPC EBA. 58c an hour for providing your own wet gear! how much to Tone spend to go to weddings, take part in charity bike rides, promote books and do countel

  47. mb

    [But I also think that, all in all, they are governing a bit better than they are coming across as doing: nothing has gone seriously wrong yet in a policy sense…]

    Really? So, how is the Abbott Government with climate action ‘in a policy sense’:

    (1) Cut funding for the DAP. Five months in, there is absolutely NO action arising from the DAP. The stated target of 5% by 2020 is unachievable except possibly through purchase of foreign carbon credits which they have previously scoffed at.
    (2) Remove climate considerations from the TOR of Infrastructure Australia.
    (3) Do not turn up at international climate negotiations.
    (4) Destroy the Climate Commission.
    (5) Threaten previously bipartisan commitment to RETs. The RET review to be chaired by Moran, noted climate denialist.
    (6) Immediately following government receipt of a report into the health impacts of wind farms, order a new investigation without making public the findings of the first report.
    (7) Approve the world’s biggest coal export port.
    (8) Use chair position on G20 to cut climate action out of the agenda.
    (9) Remove all foreign aid for international climate programs.
    (10) Blame every last little thing on the carbon tax.
    (11) Maintain public silence on vitriolic and manic denialist sprays by climate nutters such as Abbott’s hand-picked business adviser, Maurince Newman.
    (12) Engage in political witch hunt on insulation scheme that delivered insulation to 1 million homes and which has been a significant player in reducing electricity demand.
    (13) Destroy agency and funding which was demonstrating consistent success in enabling companies to reduce carbon emissions.

  49. It’s a bit rich for Tory MPs to be drawing attention to allowances in the SPC EBA. 58c an hour for providing your own wet gear! how much did Tone spend to go to weddings, take part in charity bike rides, promote books and do countless other things that have been kept secret from us. These people are so divorced from the reality of the shop floor …

Comments Page 33 of 35
1 … 32 33 34 35

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *