We’re about half-way between the weekly BludgerTrack and when I’m anticipating the next opinion poll, this being the period of pre-budget calm before the storm, and a new thread is wanted. So I’ve decided to hang this one off the latest ANUpoll survey, an exercise conducted by the Australian National University two or three times a year to gauge the public mood on a specific area of public policy, and track the salience of various issues over time. The subject of the latest instalment, which was conducted by phone from a sample of 1200 in February and March, is tax and equity in Australia. Among various findings on tax that would be familiar from those who follow Essential Research, the report also finds support for increased spending on social services at its highest level since the series began in 1987. The report also finds that, in spite of everything, 56% consider the existing system “moderately fair”, on top of another 4% for “very fair”, while 22% rate it “not too fair” and 18% “not at all fair”.
The survey also features regular questions in which respondents are asked to name the first and second most important political problems, out of a list that presently includes 27 options. To make this easier to interpret, I’ve condensed results into various categories, which are hopefully generally self-explanatory (particularly economy/budget, environment and better government – security/external covers wars, terrorism, defence and immigration, while services covers health and education and such). The progress of these results since 2008 is shown in the chart below.
From which a number of points are clearly worth noting. Concern about service provision mounted to giddy heights after the 2014 budget, but promptly returned to normal after Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister. The combined result for the various economic issues is at a low point in the latest survey, having peaked in the years immediately following the global financial crisis. Security/external and crime/society, which are largely conservative concerns, are on an upward trend. “Better government”, I’m guessing, was a popular response among Coalition supporters while Labor was in power, but is not a correspondingly popular choice for Labor voters now it’s the Coalition’s turn.
I won’t forget that Tony Abbott promised to be Labor Lite too BEFORE the 2013 election. Didn’t last long AFTER it.
b gordon @freshwater8 2m2 minutes ago
ING boss supports a Royal Commission into Banks.
Will other straight corp bosses form an “Oz Honest Taxpaying Coalition of the Willing:
0 retweets 0 likes
C@tmomma @ #647 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 12:29 pm
Too right. It goes without saying they are not of the left. They have excluded themselves. Even a rocking horse would me more use than P’s archaic fiction.
Did Scott Morrison really say this to Laurie Oakes!?!
#Auspol_Meme
@Auspol_Meme
Morrison speaks to Oakes ” Budget won’t be liked by the poor ” #auspol
briefly,
The Greens are The Yuppy Party. ‘Cept they haven’t got the balls to rename themselves.
C@tmomma @ #655 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Perhaps the Guppy Party 🙂
“Liberals Generating Hate”.
Lie-bots Generating Hate
C@tmomma @ #652 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 12:34 pm
Minor banks stand to gain significantly from the reform of banking and financial services generally. The whole sector needs to be broken up, the regulatory/law enforcement system needs to be re-built, the legislative basis of banking needs to be re-done. The RC is the first step.
b
briefly
Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 12:05 pm
/b
Thanks
Gecko
Ss briefly said. The contrast is stark. Bowen crisp and clear. Morrison foaming at the mouth
Yesterday according to the MSM hacks the election was going to be decided by boats and carbon tax. Today, according to Massola, it’s education. Tomorrow?
It would be nice to have just one highly paid MSM hack who reported without embellishing their articles with their own self-importance and prejudices.
Hear, hear!
Yes, the list of Issues-That-This-election-Will-Be-All-About is growing exponentially.
You get the feeling that there are so many things it’ll be about, that it’ll just get away from the Tories and be about nothing much at all.
Can’t see them winning from here.
#Auspol_Meme
26m26 minutes ago
#Auspol_Meme @Auspol_Meme
Morrison speaks to Oakes ” Budget won’t be liked by the poor ” #auspol
citizen,
Don’t hold your breath. It’s what the CPG is paid to do. Pontificate as if they know what they are on about! Even if it’s diametrically-opposed to what they said last week!
A B @ #500 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 8:57 am
Hasn’t delivered a result in the USA or UK.
(Though that might be complicated by the non-preferential first-past-the-post system they also use.)
Bushfire Bill,
You get the feeling that there are so many things it’ll be about, that it’ll just get away from the Tories and be about nothing much at all.
Malcolm Turnbull and the Seinfeld Election About Nothing.
C@tmomma @ #654 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 12:37 pm
If he means it the ALP social media campaigns will make mincemeat of whatever the change is.
You now, it’s like Scott Morrison relishes the fact that he is able to inflict pain upon the poor in his upcoming Budget.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/may/01/peta-credlin-warns-liberals-that-bill-shorten-gaining-ground-before-election?CMP=share_btn_tw
And in the blue corner we have Captain Obvious.
No wonder she and Tones lost control of the game, with insight like that, several months after everybody else noticed something afoot in the polls.
All this Greens bitchin’ is such a waste of energy. Greens this…Greens that,” It goes without saying they are not of the left.” Yet the whingers welcome Green Preferences. Well whingers be true to your convictions. Start a campaign “We don’t want or need Greens’ preference votes.”
laughtong,
It won’t just be the ALP that will be howling about a ‘Soak the Poor’ Budget. Any fair-minded Australian will be affronted.
Just Me,
😀
Vote1Julia,
The Greens and their voters are free to preference whoever they want. As they keep telling us.
C@tmomma @ #671 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:02 pm
And that’s where social media will take it way outside ALP social media – shares, retweets etc. It might start there but go to almost everyone.
C@tmomma
This would accord with his happy clapper beliefs, which equate wealth with righteousness.
@Auspol_Meme
Morrison speaks to Oakes ” Budget won’t be liked by the poor ” #auspol
————————–
The arrogance, malevolence, and pure political idiocy needed to make that statement is rarely seen.
Or at least , it wasn’t before the Turnbull-Abbott-Turnbull era.
The reporting of this is going to be a good test of our beloved CPG’s competence and allegiance.
Perhaps Scrote was speaking in tongues?
vote1julia @ #670 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:02 pm
As wrong as the subject of your avatar!
The ALP welcomes the second preferences of voters who have mistakenly succumbed to the siren call of the greens and given them their first preference.
The Greens themselves are just oxygen thieves.
Oaks v Morrison.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/live-within-our-memes-amirite?utm_term=.qiMRwnpPbx#.wtVWjboXR1
citizen @ #661 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 12:50 pm
Very few of the MSM actually understand how politics registers in the minds of voters. The MSM face, listen to and participate in the theatre that’s staged in and around Canberra. But this is only a series of miniatures – a run of flimsy sets which they observe and in which they take the part of the chorus.
Electoral politics is actually settled in the minds of the many millions of voters. The MSM cannot know what these voters think because they make no effort to reach and listen to them.
The “issues” that are supposedly decisive are certainly important in themselves. But their underlying value is in the code they carry. Nearly all the “issues” that appear – education, health, the environment/climate change, tax equity, jobs, social welfare, retirement incomes, inequality, access to housing, infrastructure investment, disability (to name just the most obvious) – are synonyms for “Vote Labor”. The LNP have one or two coded issues. Boats and public debt qualify. They have tried (but not succeeded) to make security and defence their own as well. The LNP have in fact long since left the market in relation to nearly all the remaining issues.
The LNP will try to stay as far away as possible from Labor’s franchises. However, their problem is their own franchise is badly degraded. Even their prized property – boats – is looking very weathered. It’s not strong enough by itself to sustain voter affiliation. In fact, now that Manus has been scrapped, they will be seen to have been neglecting their estate. As for debt, well they have shown they cannot be relied on with that either. They have failed to maintain even their own unambitious cottages. The Liberals actually have nothing much at all. They are a curious mixture of nostalgia, laziness, blame and disdain. If the MSM do not apprehend this it is because they are themselves equally disposed to these failings and have been pleased to be invited to singalong with the LNP.
Perhaps this could be arranged every time a Green voter who intends to preference Labor is spotted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE16yS_n9HE
Hello, bludgers
Huge lightning show here overnight and of course the power went off and has just been restored.
I don’t think I’m imagining it, but the almost continuous lightning seemed quite different to our usual flash – pause – thunder. Climate change?
From all the comments, I don’t think I’ll bother to chase up Insiders.
poroti
Thank you for the hint on how to sex spiders. 🙂
confessions
From your link
Obviously Morrison doesn’t think we need health, education, decent infrastructure, or science.
C@tmomma, Jerry, just remember. It’s not a lie… if you believe it…
JUST ME – Soaking the poor in this budget, particularly after the 2014 budget, is obviously nuts, because the electorate will not stand for it. But I have not doubt Morrison is quite capable of delivering such a budget (and boasting about it) because HE is totally nuts. A prosperity bible happy-clapping egomaniac. He’s going to wear his brutality as a badge of honour while our chickenhearted PM stands by and watches his Prime Ministership head for the S-Bend. Bring on Tuesday. I can’t wait. This is going to be a gas.
DisplayName @ #682 Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:30 pm
The Liberals obviously think we need more inequality, tax evasion and racketeering.
That has been obvious for a long time.
I’m sure that Morrison will say: the poor won’t like the budget, BUT it will be good for them because it will help the rich create wealth. When he tries to sell that message, I will be laughing my arse off.
DisplayName
Healthcare just leads to poor people sponging on the public teat longer.
Education just leads to uppity people who don’t seem to know their place.
Infrastructure building is better left in private hands.
Science just leads to beliefs that contradict the bible, like AGW.
He probably thought he’d better get out here real quick, while Turnbott is still Prime Minister …
K17 @ 142
Along the same lines, ScoMo will be arguing that if we didn’t have huge concessions for investment property buyers, there would be no places to let to prospective first home buyers who need to rent because they can’t compete with government-subsidised investors.
DN:
It’s been clear for years now they don’t!
TPOF – It’s hard to believe, but Sco-Mo really might drive a steak knife right through the heart of this government. In fact, he probably will.
The ‘warm wave’ continues in Sydney. It’s very warm and windy in Sydney’s West, with temps in the high 20s. Penrith (55km West of Sydney CBD) is on 29.4, a degree above its old record (data since 1995).
Michael Stutchbury. performance on insiders was extraordinary. Clearly he is of the view he should be running the place; reporting what is going on is clearly not in his remit.
It seems that the value of Telehealth was being extolled on ABC24. I thought that its success depended on a universal roll out of the original NBN.
I have a very small circle of friends, I admit, but I don’t know of anyone who is looking forward to watching ScoMo’s Budget.
lizzie
It’ll be fine – wealthy people can afford high bandwidth internet connections.
Player One
Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:46 pm
He probably thought he’d better get out here real quick, while Turnbott is still Prime Minister …
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-01/french-pm-heading-to-australia-after-mega-subs-contract/7373856
He won’t get a welcome from Piers Ackerman who claims the subs decision will just benefit the unions in France.
Sounds like Insiders followed the standard ABC ‘balance’ templates – two RWNJs and one realatively sane and balanced journo.
lizzie
Spare a thought for our poor journalists – they have to watch it. But given the crap they themselves generate, I guess this is just karma.