Newspoll state leadership polling and Essential Research coronavirus latest

State-level polling finds the coronavirus tide lifting all boats — but none so far as Mark McGowan in WA, whose numbers may be without precedent.

The Australian ($) today provides Newspoll findings on state leaders’ handling of the coronavirus, from samples of around 520 for each mainland state plus 309 for Tasmania. The poll finds all concerned riding high, including three who strongly outperformed Scott Morrison’s ballyhooed 68% approval and 28% disapproval on the weekend. These are WA Labor Premier Mark McGowan, at 89% approval and 6% disapproval; Tasmanian Liberal Premier Peter Gutwein, at 84% approval and 11% disapproval after three months in the job; and Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews, at 75% approval and 17% disapproval.

Morrison was also matched on approval and bettered on net approval by NSW Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian (69% approval and 23% disapproval) and SA Liberal Premier Steven Marshall (68% approval and 21% disapproval). Only Queensland Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who faces an election in October, was below the prime ministerial par (55% approval and 39% disapproval). With due allowance for small samples, I believe McGowan’s ratings may be a record for Newspoll, or indeed for any other Australian pollster, and that Gutwein’s might have been too if not for McGowan’s.

The leaders record even stronger ratings on the specific question of handling the coronavirus outbreak: 77% rate Berejiklian as having done well, compared with 18% for badly; Andrews is at 85% and 11%; Palaszczuk is at 72% and 23%; McGowan is at 94% and 4%; Marshall is at 82% and 11%; and Gutwein is at 89% and 8%. Equivalent results are also provided for the Prime Minister, and here too Western Australians are most positive, at 73% approval and 23% disapproval, with 85% rating Morrison had handled coronavirus well compared with 14% for badly. In New South Wales, Morrison scored 67% approval and 30% disapproval, and 82% well and 16% badly for coronavirus; in Victoria, 72% approval and 26% disapproval, 83% well and 14% badly; in Queensland, 67% approval and 28% disapproval, 81% well and 17% badly; in South Australia, 70% approval and 27% disapproval, 83% well and 15% badly; and in Tasmania, 64% approval and 31% disapproval, 81% well and 18% badly.

As reported in The Guardian, the weekly Essential Research coronavirus poll provides us with a third set of small-sample findings on mainland state governments’ handling of the crisis, ranging from about 80 respondents in South Australia to 320 in New South Wales. The latest results produce combined very good and good ratings of 77% for the Victorian and South Australian governments, 76% for Western Australia, 67% for Queensland and 63% for New South Wales. The table below records the progress of this series over its three weeks, together with an averaged result which again shows Western Australia highest at 77%, followed by 74% for Victoria, 72% for South Australia, 61% for Queensland and 60% for New South Wales.

Essential Research also finds confidence in the federal government’s handling of the crisis continuing to rise, with 70% rating it good or very good, a measure that earlier progressed from 45% in late March to 65% last week. Seventy-three per cent now say they consider themselves unlikely to catch the virus, compared with 57% at the peak of concern at the end of March. In response to a list of options for budget repair, 64% supported preventing companies in offshore tax havens from receiving goverment support, but only 32% favoured removing franking credits and negative gearing, and 18% supported death duties.

On the COVIDSafe app, the weekend’s Newspoll found 21% saying they would definitely take it up, 33% that they would probably do so, 21% that they would probably not, and 18% that they would definitely not. Apart from the lower uncommitted rating, this is broadly in line with an Australia Institute poll of 1011 respondents on Thursday and Friday which had 45% saying they would and 28% that they wouldn’t. Essential Research also weighed in on the question, and found 53% saying it would limit the spread of the virus, and 46% that it would speed removal of distancing restrictions. A full set of results from Essential Research should be with us later today.

UPDATE: Full Essential Research report here.

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.

3,040 comments on “Newspoll state leadership polling and Essential Research coronavirus latest”

Comments Page 55 of 61
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  1. Confessions
    “Thankfully the Capt Cook brouhaha has passed me by.”

    I’m reminded of that question posed by Kit Denton: “Who discovered Captain Cook, and why?”

  2. citizen says:
    Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    Do you pay your taxes? Comply with the law? Yep – and you get to participate in society fully.

    You may not wish to but lots of Australians want to have big weddings and funerals and worship and go to the footy of the code of their choice and socialise at pubs and clubs and cafes and restaurants and go to the gym and travel to the country/bush and have family reunions and lots and lots of other things, many of which lead to employment for people.

    You may find it hilarious to take the piss out of the PM but most normal people just want to get on with life – unlike the extremist anti-LNP cabal here.

    So don’t download it because you don’t want to in order to spite the PM or fulfill your vendetta against Dutton or the NSA, DSD, KGB, MI6, etc will be very fucking interested in what some baggy arsed irrelevant old lefty hiding in the suburbs of Australia gets up to in between ALP/Greens meetings of three age pensioners and a dog.

    But many of the rest of us have and will download the app will welcome the easing of restrictions.

  3. Bucephalus
    The app is a gimmick because just how will it know who has the virus? The only sure way is to control movements through airports and ports.

  5. Scotty says if we download the app we can start winding back social distancing rules. What an incredibly dangerous experiment.

  6. Kakuru says:
    Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 2:44 pm

    I’m not going to be the one to educate you in Constitutional Law but I had enough to do with DACC in a previous life to know that what occurred was unconstitutional because it wasn’t requested by the States. The Government even admitted it.

  8. Bucephalus

    You may not wish to but lots of Australians want to have big weddings and funerals and worship and go to the footy of the code of their choice and socialise at pubs and clubs and cafes and restaurants and go to the gym and travel to the country/bush and have family reunions and lots and lots of other things, many of which lead to employment for people.

    You may find it hilarious to take the piss out of the PM but most normal people just want to get on with life

    I don’t think you realise how dangerous the virus could have been if it had been allowed to spread as in Europe or America. Perhaps you live in a safe backwater yourself.

  9. ALP/Greens meetings of three age pensioners and a dog.

    Have you grokked the Liberal Party membership!?! It would be more convenient to hold the meetings in a Retirement Village. Or at the Sunday Service for Young Fundies.

  10. meher baba if you are about…..

    Welcome to Victoria, the Doomsday State

    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/welcome-to-victoria-the-doomsday-state-20200501-p54p49.html

    On a Saturday night two weeks ago, when nearly all Victoria was at home sheltering from the pandemic, the state’s Chief Health Officer dialled into the studios of 3AW to talk to Sally Cockburn, a medico turned media personality who made her name giving sex and relationship advice as Dr Feelgood to a generation of radio listeners.

    As Brett Sutton, the doctor informing Victoria’s response to COVID-19, relaxed into a friendly chat Cockburn asked why, in all states but Victoria, it was OK to go out and hit a round of golf? Sutton admitted it wasn’t really about the risk of infection on the fairways.

    “There is no science here Sally,’’ he said. “I understand that people think ‘look, if I play golf I would do it right and I wouldn’t pick up a new mate every week in the car and be in close contact and I wouldn’t go round in close contact with a bunch of other people on the course’.

    ”That is a rational, law-abiding person, but I have to think about what it would mean to allow it across the board for all of the people who would comply with that and who wouldn’t comply with it.’’

    In this unguarded moment, Sutton was telling us about much more than golf. To anyone wondering why, in Daniel Andrews’ Victoria, there is a greater reluctance to lift restrictions on school attendances and social movement than in every other mainland state, the whiff of paternalism is hard to miss. Despite a demonstrated willingness to comply with social distancing measures, we are still being protected from our lesser selves.
    ::
    Few politicians can. Throughout the COVID crisis, Andrews has shown a rare ability to distill complex issues into a simple, relatable message. Yet, as effective as this is, his tendency to absolutism – you either agree with me or are indifferent to human life – betrays something else about his leadership.

  11. Mexicanbeemer

    You’re smarter than that. ( I completely agreed with post about the Tweet by Van Dieman (her name being one of the more ironic things about the incident)).

    The app data is used once someone is diagnosed to help identify contacts – it’s just one tool of the contact tracing process.

    And you know that.

  13. Bucephalus @ #2706 Saturday, May 2nd, 2020 – 2:47 pm

    citizen says:
    Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    Do you pay your taxes? Comply with the law? Yep – and you get to participate in society fully.

    You may not wish to but lots of Australians want to have big weddings and funerals and worship and go to the footy of the code of their choice and socialise at pubs and clubs and cafes and restaurants and go to the gym and travel to the country/bush and have family reunions and lots and lots of other things, many of which lead to employment for people.

    You may find it hilarious to take the piss out of the PM but most normal people just want to get on with life – unlike the extremist anti-LNP cabal here.

    So don’t download it because you don’t want to in order to spite the PM or fulfill your vendetta against Dutton or the NSA, DSD, KGB, MI6, etc will be very fucking interested in what some baggy arsed irrelevant old lefty hiding in the suburbs of Australia gets up to in between ALP/Greens meetings of three age pensioners and a dog.

    But many of the rest of us have and will download the app will welcome the easing of restrictions.

    But you yourself do have a threshold on what you give up to Govt, right ?

  14. Oakeshott country says:
    Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 2:46 pm

    The rumour doing the rounds in the circles I work in was that there were significant breakdowns in isolation management and infection control due to the Polar Bear Phenomenon (There’s a Polar Bear on ward 3 – hey everyone let’s go and have a look at it).
    I presume there will be an enquiry into the problem into NW Tasmanian hospitals and we should see if this was the case

    May be true, but still avoids the base cause, the ruby princess. Bit different to blaming nurses for having a party and a doctor for not detailing his location.

    In my view the lack of professionalism shown by the liver specialist has to be seen to be believed. You expect nothing less from the PM.

  15. Cud Chewer @ #2689 Saturday, May 2nd, 2020 – 2:32 pm

    “The app is a small part of the toolkit”

    True, but where is the rest of the toolkit? What are we going to do that we weren’t already doing? The AHPPC document from yesterday was a load of waffle on this issue. The thing I hate about the promotion of the app is that it diverts media attention from other things that matter more.

    But hey, Scotty from Marketing gets to bomb the airwaves with his groovy ad about it! 😐

  16. Just reading a twitter exchange :

    Ryan J. Foley‏ @rjfoley

    As Iowa reopens 77 counties today, the governor reports a staggering number of new COVID-19 infections: 740, a one-day high.

    Mary Beth “flatten the curve” Williams‏ @wampumpeag

    Oregon has 25% more population than Iowa, and has 60% fewer cases. Today, we had 69 new cases, compared to Iowa’s 740. And we had our first case a month before they did. But we actually did the hard work and stayed at home. Iowa farmers should know you reap what you sow.

  17. Bu
    “I’m not going to be the one to educate you in Constitutional Law but I had enough to do with DACC in a previous life to know that what occurred was unconstitutional because it wasn’t requested by the States. The Government even admitted it.”

    Admitted it??!! This was their (feeble) excuse for not acting!

    Kevin Rudd called in the military during the Black Saturday fires. I don’t recall any constitutional niceties standing in the way of that intervention.

  18. Observing the transit of Venus?

    That’s one. Science.
    Charting/Surveying. Not just Australia… The Pacific in general. From the Arctic to the Antarctic. His efforts at longitude, especially prior to using chronometers.

    And just running the expeditions.

    What a guy.

  20. frednk

    “In my view the lack of professionalism shown by the liver specialist has to be seen to be believed. ”

    And even then a lot of people just won’t believe he’s a dangerous idiot because of respect for the office. Its rather like a lot of people just can’t see how dangerous Trump is because of his position.

  22. Phoenix..

    “As Iowa reopens 77 counties today, the governor reports a staggering number of new COVID-19 infections: 740, a one-day high.”

    Relax, it could never happen here…

  23. Bucephalus
    I understood that is the aim but where i am cynical is this virus is good at hiding itself with many people not showing any symptoms. There is a place for such technology and i think something similar was used in Singapore or Korea.

  24. I’d like to know who started the habit of substituting ‘reticence’ for ‘reluctance’. Some uneducated person who wanted to sound clever, no doubt.
    “I’m reluctant to throw the ball because I might hit someone’s head” cannot reasonably be substituted with “I’m reticent to throw the ball because I might hit someone’s head”. It doesn’t make sense.

  25. As for ‘discovering’ Australia… I am much more enamoured of Flinders (with Bungaree and Nanbaree) than Cook. As for fathers of the colony… Macquarie over Phillip…. just.

  26. Buce,

    We want the social gatherings, sport and business back. We don’t want to have to have lock down mark ii because we went back too soon…

  27. lizzie

    You have to be kidding. The first 5 paragraphs I provided were the first 5 paragraphs of the article. The 6th is further on, so big deal. There was more content critical of Andrews I didn’t provide.

    Your nit-picking selectivity is noted. Everyone selectively edits what they post. Many don’t provide links so the excerpts can not be seen in context. 99.9% f the time I provide links.

  28. Alpha

    “We want the social gatherings, sport and business back. We don’t want to have to have lock down mark ii because we went back too soon…”

    I’ll second that. I want my life back too. That’s why I want the virus eliminated.

  30. I downloaded the app the other day.

    I don’t believe any of the promises regarding the use to which the data will be put nor those regarding who will be allowed to access it. Further, no doubt we’ll hear in coming weeks/months that details of a million downloaders have been hacked and sold on the dark web.

    However, on balance I think that it is likely to assist the community in combatting the Virus, it might even help me personally. It’s worth a go. On the other hand, the privacy of downloaders will be hardly or not at all less safe than it already is.

  32. At least Peg puts a link unlike someone here that cuts n pastes comments then goes over to the Guardian and posts the same comment without a link in either and will repeat the same routine 😉

  33. In my opinion the states which have responded best to the coronavirus crisis are SA, WA and Vic. No surprises their premiers are enjoying high approval numbers. Dan Andrews’ performance has been criticised by a few people here (for reasons unknown), but it would seem those people are the exception rather than the rule. This article shows exactly why Andrews has enjoyed strong support.

    If you doubt this, just listen to those who have done the top job. Steve Bracks, a revered Labor figure who never lost an election, describes Andrews as the nation’s pre-eminent political leader and one of the state’s best premiers. “It is almost as if he was made for this,’’ he says.

    Jeff Kennett, renowned for bulldozing ideas through noisy opposition, says Andrews is singularly focused: “He hasn’t given into the bayings of interest groups along the way.”

    John Brumby led Victoria through the Black Saturday bushfire disaster and says Andrews’ crisis management is textbook. “Rule number one is you have got to share information with people you need to be open and transparent, get rid of the politics and be straight about what we need to know and what we need to do to get through this together. Daniel has done everything right and you are seeing that in the response from the Victorian people.”

    Even some of Andrews’ fiercest critics concede that right now, there is no better communicator in Australian politics. His withering response to the sandbelt revolt by frustrated golfers is a case in point.

    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/welcome-to-victoria-the-doomsday-state-20200501-p54p49.html

  35. Finns reveals some sobering news.

    Finnigans 天有道地有道人无道
    @Thefinnigans
    ·
    6m
    As of 1 May 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 932 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.

    And my friends in Singapore telling me atm Singapore is very very hot. So much for #Covid19 killed by hot weather

    Quote

  38. The last time there was a huge and sustained pile on from the usual suspects, in another frustrated and pathetic attempt to drive me from this blog, the moderator remarked wtte there was nothing I had done that gave him any cause for concern.

  39. One solution to the problem of restaurant dining in a time of social distancing (fairly space consuming however).

    The cost of a three-course meal at Bord For En (Table For One), a pop-up restaurant in Sweden opening May 10, is left to the diner’s discretion.

    And that is diner, singular, just like the restaurant’s name suggests.

    Rasmus Persson and Linda Karlsson are the couple responsible for the unique concept. Located in Värmland, roughly 350 kilometers (217 miles) from Stockholm, the restaurant, or the restaurant’s single table and chair, more accurately, is situated in a lush meadow.

    The promise — and premise — is no interaction with others. This is an individual experience meant to be enjoyed in isolation.

    There’s no waitstaff and nary another guest in site. Throughout its limited run (it will be open through August 1), one person a day will be served so Persson and Karlsson can give their full focus to the guest.

    https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/sweden-one-person-restaurant/index.html

  41. Greensborough Growler @ #2734 Saturday, May 2nd, 2020 – 3:15 pm

    Finns reveals some sobering news.

    Finnigans 天有道地有道人无道
    @Thefinnigans
    ·
    6m
    As of 1 May 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 932 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.

    And my friends in Singapore telling me atm Singapore is very very hot. So much for #Covid19 killed by hot weather

    Quote

    I read of a scientific study today that stated that COVID-19 is attenuated neither by hot or cold weather. It just keeps rolling along regardless.

    https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/this-weekend-is-giving-australia-the-first-glimpse-of-winter-will-coronavirus-get-worse/531431

  43. I await for someone to criticise Confessions for her selective editing from the same article I just linked to. It wont happen and we know why.

  45. C@tmomma @ #2740 Saturday, May 2nd, 2020 – 3:20 pm

    Greensborough Growler @ #2734 Saturday, May 2nd, 2020 – 3:15 pm

    Finns reveals some sobering news.

    Finnigans 天有道地有道人无道
    @Thefinnigans
    ·
    6m
    As of 1 May 2020, 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed 932 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore.

    And my friends in Singapore telling me atm Singapore is very very hot. So much for #Covid19 killed by hot weather

    Quote

    I read of a scientific study today that stated that COVID-19 is attenuated neither by hot or cold weather. It just keeps rolling along regardless.

    https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/this-weekend-is-giving-australia-the-first-glimpse-of-winter-will-coronavirus-get-worse/531431

    Agree, but there has been speculation about the virus being scared of sunshine.

    In the US people are not social distancing at beaches.

    It’s summer and people seem to be flocking to the beaches.

    What did the Virus do next?

  47. RD

    It was a very good article by Chip LeGrand I thought.

    He really really needs a name change. All that comes to mind is the name Russell Crowe adopted during an early cringeworthy phase Rus le Roq.

  48. lizzie @ #2552 Saturday, May 2nd, 2020 – 3:07 pm

    I’d like to know who started the habit of substituting ‘reticence’ for ‘reluctance’. Some uneducated person who wanted to sound clever, no doubt.
    “I’m reluctant to throw the ball because I might hit someone’s head” cannot reasonably be substituted with “I’m reticent to throw the ball because I might hit someone’s head”. It doesn’t make sense.

    Lady attempting to bring down Killer Rabbit while pretending to throw frisby for her frolicsome dog.

  49. Ocean warming is causing massive ice sheet loss in Greenland and Antarctica, NASA study showshttps://t.co/PX5Vi1irhZ A new study by NASA shows that Antarctica and Greenland's ice sheets lost 118 gigatons and 200 gigatons of ice on average per year.— Svein T veitdal (@tveitdal) May 2, 2020

    People mostly believe the science re the C-19 plague but don’t believe the science re the warming. Go figure…

  50. Agree, but there has been speculation about the virus being scared of sunshine.

    “We could, you know, maybe radiate the sunshine inside the body somehow…”

    Dr Donald J Trump, April 2020

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