Essential Research and Morgan: more coronavirus polling

Two new polls suggest support for the federal government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis is still on the rise.

I’ll be taking part in the Political Geekfest videocast through Zoom with Peter Lewis of Essential Research and Katharine Murphy of the Guardian Australia at 1pm AEST today, which you can register for here. The subject of discussion will be this:

• The Guardian reports on another Essential Research poll focusing mostly on coronavirus, which would appear to be a weekly thing at least for the time being. The latest poll finds 59% rating the government’s response as about right, up from 46% last week and 39% in the two previous weekly polls; 13% rating it an overreaction, continuing its downward trajectory from 33% to 18% to 17%; and 29% rating it an underreaction, which bounced around over the first three weeks from 28% to 43% to 37%. Respondents were also asked to rate their state governments’ reactions, though with sample sizes too small to be of that much use at the individual level: the combined responses for very good and quite good were at 56% for New South Wales, 76% for Victoria, 52% for Queensland, 79% for Western Australia and 72% for South Australia. The poll also records a surprisingly high level of general morale, producing an average 6.7 rating on a scale of one to ten, unchanged from May last year. The full report should be published later today. UPDATE: Full report here.

• Also apparently a weekly thing is Roy Morgan’s coronavirus polling, which is being conducted online and not by SMS as I previously assumed – indeed, I believe this is the first online polling Morgan has ever published. Last week’s tranche showed a sharp rise in approval of the government’s handling of the matter from a week previous, with 21% strongly agreeing the government was handling the matter well (up twelve), 44% less strongly agreeing (up ten), 23% disagreeing (down ten) and 6% strongly disagreeing (down ten). Respondents had also become more optimistic since the previous week (59% saying the worst was yet to come, down 26 points, 33% saying the situation would remain the same, up 22 points, and 8% expecting things to improve, up four), and, contra Essential, slightly more inclined to consider the threat was being exaggerated (up five points to 20%, with disagreement down six to 75%). The poll was conducted last weekend from a sample of 987.

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.

1,397 comments on “Essential Research and Morgan: more coronavirus polling”

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  1. C@t:

    I was hoping there might be a class action of some sort. Perhaps that could be initiated overseas in one of those countries that are the HQ.

  4. The problem with wet markets is when they keep wild animals alive on top of each other and then eat them.

    The problem with wet markets is that they are hideously cruel and disgustingly barbaric.

    So much for Chinese “civilization”, making their dicks bigger by pureeing tiger balls and sauteing pangolin bladders.

  6. Thanks shellbell wondering why others are saying 4

    Still a big improvement on the past few days. If Tas can stomp on this outbreak it would be quite encouraging.

  8. Zwaktyld @ #1279 Wednesday, April 15th, 2020 – 9:09 pm

    MB Rice is now clearly a staple in the Australian diet – that’s why it’s been so hard to get this last month.

    P1: As bad as Australian water management is, I think the Aral Sea is clearly several orders of magnitude worse

    Drat! Does that mean we are not world leaders in anything …. no, wait – coal exports! Phew!

  9. Bushfire Bill @ #1304 Wednesday, April 15th, 2020 – 9:45 pm

    The problem with wet markets is when they keep wild animals alive on top of each other and then eat them.

    The problem with wet markets is that they are hideously cruel and disgustingly barbaric.

    So much for Chinese “civilization”, making their dicks bigger by pureeing tiger balls and sauteing pangolin bladders.

    Not racist at all, BB 🙁

  12. P1

    I have a poster that directly contradicts the stereotype racist insult about the size of asian people’s penis.

    It puts many western people in the small category. I won’t share it.

    However BB is referring to a cultural practise of a minority.
    His prescription for a cure is wrong as has been pointed out Sydney Fish markets can be referred to as wet markets.

    As for overcrowding and risk of infection we have animal farms with similar and just as cruel as any asian market. Caged hens is just the most obvious.

    So can we leave racism out of it and just assume BB is talking about that minority not all Chinese people.

  13. Bushfire Bill @ #1311 Wednesday, April 15th, 2020 – 9:57 pm

    Defend killing tigers for their testicles and eating pangolins to enhance “manhood”, or shut the fuck up, P1.

    How many Chinese do you actually know, BB? And of them, how many do you know who eat tiger testicles and pangolins?

    If the answer is above zero in either case, I would be surprised.

  17. You idiots would defend slitting koalas’ throats if it gave you an excuse to point the finger at someone and accuse them of some bad thing.

    I point out to Guytaur that with a population of 1.7 billion, a “minority” in China is a pretty big number.

    Exotic animals are being slaughtered all over the world to the point of extinction for their horns, or their gall bladders, or are being tortured in tiny cages in wet markets to keep them “fresh” and you still can’t bring yourselves to utter even a word of criticism.

    That’s pretty disgusting to anyone but the morally cocksure, do-gooder Puritains that you surely are.

  19. Why shutting down Chinese ‘wet markets’ could be a terrible mistake

    https://theconversation.com/why-shutting-down-chinese-wet-markets-could-be-a-terrible-mistake-130625

    But the focus on exotic food consumption in China often relies on Orientalisation, and is in some cases tinged with anti-Chinese sentiment.
    :::
    In western media, “wet markets” are portrayed as emblems of Chinese otherness: chaotic versions of oriental bazaars, lawless areas where animals that should not be eaten are sold as food, and where what should not be mingled comes together (seafood and poultry, serpents and cattle). This fuels Sinophobia and anxieties of what anthropologists have long identified as “matter out of place”: a symbolic system of pollution through which proscriptions and prescriptions of what foods or foodstuffs may be combined is held up.

    This image is highly flawed, not only because it relies on western sensitivities of what is eatable and what is not, and which portrays a modern form of Chinese food trade and consumption as “traditional”, but more practically, because it misrepresents the material and economic reality of these markets.

  20. Look at you all!

    These wet markets have just about ruined the world’s economies, killed hundreds of thousands, rendered species extinct in the name of “manhood” enhancement, and all you can do is defend them and make cheap penis jokes.

    I don’t know how you po-faced fuckers sleep at night.

  23. Mexican:

    Considering the WHO performance I understand the logic in cutting funding to it but it might turn out counterproductive because China could increase its support and control over what is already a compromised organisation.

    What is your baseline for performance?

    Against what do you benchmark the performance?

  25. Even if BB is hung like a horse surely by now it’s long past it’s use by date. Which I think is why we are subjected to these periodical rants. in the absence of a sexual drive the ancient mariner obsesses over beasts.

  27. Commentary: No, China’s fresh food markets did not cause coronavirus

    https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2020-03-11/coronavirus-china-wet-markets

    As some media outlets cover the coronavirus, journalists are mixing up wet markets and wildlife markets. But most wet markets are not wildlife markets, and confusing the two is dangerous.

    “Wet” markets are what China calls its fresh food markets, the kind you see all over the developing world and in many parts of Europe, where small stalls sell fresh vegetables and butchers sell meat, primarily pork. They are the daily market for tens of millions of Chinese who prefer to talk to the people who sell them produce, meat, seafood and tofu, and in small cities, are often the only outlet for small-scale farmers who can’t meet the supplier requirements for supermarkets. (Still, it’s important to differentiate: Most wet markets, especially in big cities, may look like farmers markets but are buying from the same wholesale suppliers as supermarkets.)

    They are a cornerstone of China’s food distribution system and have benefits for society both tangible and intangible, from improved nutrition for children to stronger interpersonal relationships. So-called for their open-air origins, where the ground was hosed down throughout the day, they are the traditional backbone to China’s food supply system.

  28. Oh gee, that’s right, sanctimonious Greens types believe we have to ‘clean up our own backyard first’ before we are allowed to criticise anyone anywhere else in the world.

    And they wonder why they never get more than 10% of the vote on average over the whole of their existence.

    While the rest of the world goes to hell, they sit smugly by and nitpick.

  31. We need to bring up sexual harassment to drive a wedge between C@t and BB. They have united on anti-Asian sentiment and their combined ignorance is too gigantic to be safely combated. Of course there is some irony in BB being defended by his own creation; the Gosford Godzilla rearing up out of the ocean to defend her maker.

  33. Read the NYT article nath, and get back to us.

    You won’t, because trolling is more important than the truth.

    As for the The Greens: never waste an opportunity to betray your principles if there’s a “crime” you can accuse someone else of committing.

    You’re a waste of space.

  34. Bushfire Bill @ #1329 Wednesday, April 15th, 2020 – 10:27 pm

    No tigers in Chinese wet markets, eh? Which smartarse said that?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/world/asia/13tiger.html

    Are you sure you posted the right article, BB? I can’t find any mention of wet markets. Or testicles for that matter. Oh, and it also mentions India as a culprit in tiger extinction as well. Are we likely to see you starting a racist campaign against Indians, or is it just Chinese you don’t like?

  36. Mexican:

    The WHO is only compromised in the sense it wanted to keep a good relationship with China which is understandable just as they do with other countries.

    This is correct, but does not go far enough.

    In fact the purpose of the WHO requires it to maintain cordial relations with corrupt and indeed wholly reprehensible regimes. This is because pandemics and certain other public health issues easily cross the boundaries of corrupt and indeed wholly reprehensible regimes, putting those outside at risk.

    The WHO did not do this, and instead (for example_ became some sort of holier than thou political advocate, that might make some people feel better, but the result would be that WHO would be unable to undertake its actual mission in relation to public health.

    To put it simply – having cordial relations with corrupt and indeed wholly reprehensible regimes is not a defect in the WHO, it is instead an essential part of the way it has to operate.

  39. The problem is not specifically Chinese wet markets, there are wet markets right across the developing world just as bad if not worse, but the unhygienic handling and management of animals- and that includes Australia’s disgusting live animal exports.
    AIDS came from cross infection from eating monkey/apes in Africa….we dont call it African AIDS or HIV.

  40. P1

    Yep, no mention of wet markets in that article.

    The irony of BB ranting “You won’t, because trolling is more important than the truth.”

  41. You’re fuckin’ unbelievable P1.

    Go back to whingeing about not getting your bushfire subsidy. At least you’re being honest when you do that.

    The billions the Chinese spend on propaganda in the West have sure hit pay dirt with you.

  42. Bushfire Bill:

    Look at you all!

    These wet markets have just about ruined the world’s economies, killed hundreds of thousands, rendered species extinct in the name of “manhood” enhancement, and all you can do is defend them and make cheap penis jokes.

    I don’t know how you po-faced fuckers sleep at night.

    In the real world what do you propose doing about it? Invade China? Bomb the wet markets? That will work, but would also have consequences… Any other ideas? Wet markets will close when/if China (etc) closes them, and in the interim the only thing that can usefully be done is to attempt to minimize harm whilst advocating for closure.

  44. With those figures from the US I don’t see Trump being re-elected.

    We may yet see Biden agree with Sanders that it’s time for FDR policies.

  47. Bushfire Bill
    says:
    Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at 10:34 pm
    Read the NYT article nath, and get back to us.
    You won’t, because trolling is more important than the truth.
    _______________________
    whatever my crimes on PB, which I believe are few, thankfully I have never assumed the role of a racist troll, or at least one who flirts with being one, constantly writing posts and bringing up issues relating to the Chinese either here or abroad.

  49. The irony of BB ranting “You won’t, because trolling is more important than the truth.”

    It is very annoying when posters provide these aggravated predictions as to what some other poster will or (more commonly) won’t say. It would be great if this were to stop.

  50. NSW has lumped infected overseas and infected interstate together.
    Does anyone have a clue as to whether the most recent cases in that category are which?

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