Essential Research: leader ratings and protest laws

Discouragement for Newspoll’s notion of an Anthony Albanese approval surge, plus a mixed bag of findings on the right to protest.

The latest fortnightly Essential Research poll still offers nothing on voting intention, though it’s relative interesting in that it features the pollster’s monthly leadership ratings. Contrary to Newspoll, these record a weakening in Anthony Albanese’s ratings, with approval down three to 37% and disapproval up five to 34%. Scott Morrison also worsens slightly, down two on approval to 45% and up three on disapproval to 41%, and his preferred prime minister read is essentially steady at 44-28 (43-28 last month).

Further questions relate to the right to protest, including the finding that 33% would support laws flagged by Scott Morrison that “could make consumer or environment boycotts illegal”, while 39% were opposed. Fifty-eight per cent agreed the government had “the right to limit citizen protests when it disrupts business”, with 31% for disagree; but that 53% agreed that “protestors should have the right to pressure banks not to invest in companies that are building coal mines”, with 33% disagreeing.

The poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1075 respondents chosen from an online panel.

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.

1,832 comments on “Essential Research: leader ratings and protest laws”

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  1. In the Courier Mail tomorrow:

    Labor insiders are livid with former leader Bill Shorten, as the knives come out to stop what they believe is his treachery, writes Renee Viellaris.

  2. Pro tip nath

    Don’t believe everything you read in Murdoch gutter organs – especially if it relates to the visceral hate their owner has towards any and all who challenge his putrid world view.

  3. nath, everything Murdoch publishes is not only a lie, but it is designed to instill hate and marginalise. Here is an example today in Melbourne’s journal,of record, the Herald Sun..

  4. Player Onesays:
    Monday, November 18, 2019 at 10:20 pm

    Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #1785 Monday, November 18th, 2019 – 9:56 pm

    You’re just highlighting your ignorance when it comes to the science of Meteorology that you continue to think so.

    Your comment upthread demonstrates how little credibility you have, even when talking about it on such a basic level.

    So, still unable to explain? Or just unwilling?

    Your demonstrated aptitude in the subject suggests that any attempt would be a waste of time.

  5. Historyintime
    says:
    Monday, November 18, 2019 at 10:59 pm
    I think the greater shame is subscribing to the Courier Mail.
    __________________________
    If I subscribed I would actually be able to read the article rather than a brief description.

  6. Rhwombat:

    Re: “rising of the lights”, here is some correspondence in the British Medical J from 1926
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2523749/?page=1

    They can’t seem to agree on much, other that that it was typically very bad.

    Rather more astonishing are the multiple reports of folk cures that involving ingesting lead shot (or in one case mercury) to stop the lungs rising, BY WEIGHING THEM DOWN!

    For example:

    A doctor in North-East Suffolk wrote in 1925: “An old lady of my acquaintance used to swallow small shot in handfuls ‘to keep her heart and lights down’ She never suffered from lead poisoning, but died of an intracapsular fracture of the hip, possibly due to increasing weight”

  7. High Speed Rail is completely uneconomic in Australia because we do not have the density of population to support it.
    The more stops on the line then the less reason there is to use it between Capital Cities.

    I’ve used HSR in Europe more for the novelty factor than the convenience – and I didn’t find it any more convenient than flying.

  8. Chewer

    It was reasonably clear.

    It could be a lot of work, but you could also try overlaying the transit graph on a map,m such that:
    – the nodes in the graph are the cities and the “intermediate” zones
    – the edges vary in width based on the projected transit numbers (so there are fat edges corresponding to high projections etc)

  9. Cud Chewer, yes, thanks for the explanation of the bar chart.
    It was enlightening.

    Bucephalus, I also travelled on HSR in Europe, and found it much more convenient ( and relaxing) than flying, thanks for asking.

  10. Bucephalus

    I’ve used HSR in Europe more for the novelty factor than the convenience – and I didn’t find it any more convenient than flying.

    It’s much easier to work in an ICE train than on a plane, partly because one can get a work table and partly because a larger fraction of the travel time is spent in one’s seat and hence available for work (as opposed to getting on and off). Also (until fairly recently) plane comms were inferior. Finally prices are probably more predictable (european airfares bounce up and down).

    On the downside there are specific inconveniences – for example Paris to Madrid goes through the Basque country and so (until recently) took much longer than it should have due to various interruptions / complications on the route.

  11. Someone wrote..

    High Speed Rail is completely uneconomic in Australia because we do not have the density of population to support it.

    This is incorrect. Its not a question of how many million people are at either end of the rail line. Its a question of what fraction of those millions of people will use the rail line on a regular basis.

    4.8 million people live in Sydney. 900,000 live a short distance to the north. 300,000 people live a short distance to the south. And then you can also count the millions of commuters who would use a HSR line within Sydney itself – if it were to connect Parramatta, the CBD, Hornsby and Campbelltown. In other words, you take hundreds of millions of present day commuter journeys and cut them in half.

    The more stops on the line then the less reason there is to use it between Capital Cities.

    I’m amazed how often I hear this. The fact is that you can design a HSR network that provides satisfactory transit times (48 minutes from Newcastle Interchange, 30 minutes from Gosford, 45 minutes from Wollongong) and still create a network that has considerable reach – simply by using the existing rail network as a feeder network and providing seamless interchange between the two.

    I’ve used HSR in Europe more for the novelty factor than the convenience – and I didn’t find it any more convenient than flying.

    Its not about flying. Its about breaking down distance, enabling people to do things that weren’t previously possible and taking cars off roads.

  12. E.G. there’s lots of ways to visualise it. But if a $25 million dollar report tells you that twice as many people will travel from the Southern Highlands to Sydney as would from Newcastle to Sydney, then something went seriously wrong.

  13. E.G yes there are benefits from using a train over using a plane.

    However, I really would like people to get over the whole idea that HSR is about being an alternative to flying. That’s a uniquely Australian distraction.

  14. Last year I took the Eurostar from London to Paris. Fare purchased in advance and competitive with air travel. But more importantly its a lot easier to access the relevant train stations than the airports. And it took just over 2 hours which is pretty much the sweet spot.

    I followed that with a TGV from Paris to Barcelona. My friends kept telling me that it would be faster and cheaper to fly – and that’s very true. I only took the trip because I wanted to see the scenery and I had friends joining me along the way. At over 6 hours its not remotely competitive though.

    Again, please stop thinking about air travel. HSR is actually about competing with car travel over relatively short distances – up to about 250 km.

  15. And just a reminder.. When Eurostar became successful, it did so largely because of the business it was taking away from channel ferries.

  16. Cud Chewer @ #1822 Monday, November 18th, 2019 – 11:03 pm

    However, I really would like people to get over the whole idea that HSR is about being an alternative to flying. That’s a uniquely Australian distraction.

    Would you feel better if we started calling it a “Hyperloop”* instead?

    * An even bigger pipe-dream; the solution to the problem is telecommuting, not faster transportation of people from one physical location to another. A shame the NBN has been mostly ruined.

  17. a r

    Just remember a few things. I was born mostly blind. I didn’t get a chance in life until they invented the internet and I could work from home. I’m a dedicated supporter of a fully fibre network – because seamless telepresence would make a difference.

    But even then I’ve come to understand that in the real world, face to face will always be seen as more legitimate. Both in the business world and in personal affairs.

    I can speak personally for how lack of mobility cripples your chances at life and how much actually, physically being there really does matter if you want to be trusted and want to have good social connectivity.

    So, no a perfect NBN doesn’t replace fast rail. They complement each other.

    Also, you’re confusing work with life. High speed rail allows you to do a whole lot more with your life than merely commute. It gives you better access to health care, education, services and yes, you get laid more often. There’s lots of things you can’t do by video link and that includes being at a nice beach.

  18. Chewer:

    And just a reminder.. When Eurostar became successful, it did so largely because of the business it was taking away from channel ferries.

    The last time I travelled on the hovercraft it took about three hours instead of the usual 45 minutes (or whatever) as there was quite a storm in the channel. Also, virtually everyone was sick.

    Trains have another advantage over planes in that the food is effectively much better, partly due to not being at altitude (which alters taste in various way, usually not for the better) but also because there is more space for preparation etc.

  19. Gee sprocket….you have made my day…not. 🙁

    I really would not have been missing anything out of my life to NOT have seen the drivel from Bolt you posted as an example of his obvious increasing fevered unhingiment. The man is not really mad, just a very obvious paid mouthpiece for the RWNJobbies.

  20. Having something from Bolt appear on your screen does rather make you want to sanitise your computer with bleach and then take a long shower while scrubbing your eyeballs..

  21. New thread I know, but I just wanted to leave a note here expressing how much I’ve enjoyed Cud’s HSR discussion last night. HSR vs flying is a bullshit argument. But HSR as part of an integrated commuter network is a much better arguement.

    HSR (even MHSR) over distances of up to 300 km make a lot of sense for NSW. I’d like to see a Newcastle airport to Canberra spine, taking in stops at a (west) Newcastle interchange, a central coast interchange somewhere near Sommersby, a central SYDNEY interchange somewhere near Parramatta, a southern SYDNEY interchange near Liverpool, Goulburn and then terminating in Canberra. With speeds averaging 250kmh (including slowing down for those stops and dwell times at stations) a Newcastle to SYDNEY interchange should be around 40 minutes.

    To complement this HSR spine, I’d like to see a MHSR line from SYDNEY central to Badgery’s via the SYDNEY interchange,

    a existing SYDNEY Rail spur-line from Gosford (or a metro train service),and

    significant upgrades to the Illawarra line (take Labor’s proposal to straighten the line through the national park, and add a dedicated rail tunnel from Sutherland to Sydenham): even with existing intercity rail rolling stock this should see Wollongong to SYDNEY CBD train journey’s cut in half to around 45 minutes: which is more than adequate.

    I’d also like to see upgrades to the line to Nowra so that a Bomberderry to SYDNEY journey could be done in about 70-80 minutes.

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