Essential Research: sports rorts, ICAC, Australia Day

The latest from Essential finds majority support for removing Bridget McKenzie, but with a third saying they haven’t been following the issue.

Essential Research has not allowed the long weekend to interrupt the fortnightly schedule of its polling, which continues to be limited to attitudinal questions. Conducted last Tuesday to this Monday from a sample of 1080, the most interesting question from the latest poll relates to Bridget McKenzie, whom 51% felt should have been stood down by the Prime Minister. Only 15% felt he was right not to do so, while a further 34% said they had not been following the issue. The question included an explanation of what the issue involved, which is always best avoided, but the wording was suitably neutral (“it is claimed she allocated $100million to sporting organisations in marginal seats to favour the Coalition”).

The poll also finds overwhelming support for the establishment of a federal ICAC – or to be precise, of “an independent federal corruption body to monitor the behaviour of our politicians and public servants”. Fully 80% of respondents were in favour, including 49% strongly in favour, which is five points higher than when Angus Taylor’s troubles prompted the same question to be asked in December. Also featured are yet more findings on Australia Day, for which Essential accentuates the positive by framing the question around “a separate national day to recognise indigenous Australians”. Fifty per cent were in favour of such a thing, down two on last year, but only 18% of these believed it should be in place of, rather than supplementary to, Australia Day. Forty per cent did not support such a day at all, unchanged on last year.

Note that there are two threads below this one of hopefully ongoing interest: the latest guest post from Adrian Beaumont on Monday’s Democratic caucuses in Iowa, and other international concerns; and my review of looming elections in Queensland, where the Liberal National Party has now chosen its candidate for the looming Currumbin by-election, who has not proved to the liking of retiring member Jann Stuckey.

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.

2,092 comments on “Essential Research: sports rorts, ICAC, Australia Day”

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  3. Bellwether @ #1500 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 9:07 am

    C@tmomma @ #1494 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 9:00 am

    So, Bellweather, what other sources do you suggest? Jacobin magazine maybe? 🙄

    Common Dreams? Alternet?

    Do ‘enlighten’ me.

    Breitbart, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, Planet America, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, The Young Turks, even Joe Rogan for that matter, at least he has his finger on the pulse. And no matter if they are right or left outlets always question, always maintain a degree of skepticism and ask what the motives are behind their opinions.

    Breitbart. Lol. 😆
    MSNBC. Already watch it and subscribe to it on You Tube.
    CNN. Ditto.
    PBS. Been watching The News Hour since it came to Australia. Listen to NPR on the radio.
    Planet America. Watch it sometimes. Can’t stand Chas Licciardello otherwise I’d watch it more.
    Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert. I often post clips from them here. Put one up yesterday from Colbert, as a matter of fact. Subscribe to them both.
    The Young Turks. I watch them a lot as well. Just don’t want to pay for the full suite of TYT offerings.
    Joe Rogan. Nope, but how unsurprisement that you push him, now that he has endorsed…Bernie Sanders.

    You left out ‘The Majority Report with Sam Seder’. I also think Brian Tyler Cohen is brilliant. Maybe you should check them out as well? 🙂

    Anyway, suffice to say, I think I’m pretty broadly-read and informed.

  5. Josh is talking too fast. He’s obviously lying.

    Spears got him to admit the process will be reformed. But if there was nothing untoward, then why reform the process?

    Boom-boom.

  6. There’s a definite shortage of cotton wool on Insiders – how bloody refreshing! Bullshit being called out very quickly and smashed.

  7. Speers does something that has not been practiced for years and years, much to my frustration.
    He just goes back to the primary question and repeats it.

    The worm wriggles ever more desperately on the hook.

  11. Boerwar:

    Yep, why I’ve long said he’s one of the best political interviewers in the country.

    I guess now this means Scotty won’t set foot on the show!

  15. Someone tell Pyne, yeah but all those other Auditor General reports didn’t uncover the extent of rorting that the Sports Rorts one did!

  26. I haven’t seen today’s interview yet, but one excellent quality in Spears’ technique is that he seems to a solid grounding in the subject matter and so he is more easily able to adapt during an interview and go off script.

    A few others can do it when the subject is a particular topic of interest of interest to them, but I think Spears is the most complete since Kerry O’Brien.

  33. A friend just rang me proposing the metaphor that Josh and Speers just played a 28-shot rally, and Josh took the point with an awkward let ball.

  45. Jeez was that an opportunity for the panel to bash Labor over its AGW policy, and instead they said the govt is the govt and it hasn’t got anything planned?!

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