Essential Research: coronavirus restrictions and conspiracy theories

A poll suggests a significant proportion of the population believes coronavirus was engineered in a Chinese laboratory, but other conspiracy theories remain consigned to the fringe.

Courtesy of The Guardian, some headline results of another weekly Essential Research poll on coronavirus, the full report of which should be published later today. This includes regular questions on federal and state governments’ handling with the crisis, of which we are only told that respondents remain highly positive, and on easing restrictions, for which we are told only 25% now consider it too soon, which is down two on last time and has been consistently declining over five surveys.

Beyond that, the survey gauged response to a number of what might be described as conspiracy theories concerning the virus. By far the most popular was the notion that the virus “was engineered and released from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan”, which has received a certain amount of encouragement from the Daily Telegraph but is starkly at odds with the scientific consensus. Agreement and disagreement with this proposition was tied on 39%.

Thirteen per cent subscribed to a theory that Bill Gates was involved in the creation and spread of the virus, with 71% disagreeing; 13% agreed the virus was not dangerous and was being used to force people to get vaccines, with 79% disagreeing; 12% thought the 5G network was being used to spread the virus, with 75% disagreeing; and 20% agreed the number of deaths was being exaggerated, with “more than 70%” disagreeing. The poll also found 77% agreed that the outbreak in China was worse than the official statistics showed.

The poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1073.

UPDATE: Full 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.

3,318 comments on “Essential Research: coronavirus restrictions and conspiracy theories”

Comments Page 53 of 67
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  2. China drops word ‘peaceful’ in latest push for Taiwan ‘reunification’

    BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang left out the word “peaceful” on Friday in referring to Beijing’s desire to “reunify” with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, an apparent policy shift that comes as ties with Taipei continue on a downward spiral.

    Taiwan has complained of increased Chinese military harassment since the coronavirus pandemic began, with fighter jets and naval vessels regularly approaching the island on drills China has described as routine.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-taiwan/china-drops-word-peaceful-in-latest-push-for-taiwan-reunification-idUSKBN22Y06S

  4. dave

    The Far Left will doubtless take to the streets on China’s increasingly bellicose militarism.

    And if Xi does not behave, the Greens would no doubt demand that we deploy more of the peace studies that form a core part of their national security policy.

  5. So the Feds are not going to spend on supporting jobs that did not exist in the first place? How is this news? It simply confirms what everyone already thinks…that Canberra politics is a charade most of the time.

  6. Should we be sending iron ore to China so that it can continue with its dramatic escalation in naval shipbuilding to go with its increasingly bellicose militarism?

    Pig Iron Scotty?

  7. Dave

    I was going to post something similar. WTF is Josh up to?

    The Fitch downgrade of Australia’s outlook to negative watch was also over the financial wires today.

    And Josh comes out with a glib ‘Australia’s AAA has been re affirmed.’

  8. CFMMEU in fresh turmoil as Setka-led bloc votes out national leader

    https://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace/cfmmeu-in-fresh-turmoil-as-setka-led-bloc-votes-out-national-leader-20200522-p54vg1.html

    The CFMMEU is in danger of splitting, with a majority of the union’s national executive voting to call on its leader Michael O’Connor to resign.

    The push to force out Mr O’Connor as national secretary has been supported by the construction division of the union and Victorian head John Setka.
    :::
    The push to remove Mr O’Connor was discussed at Thursday’s national executive meeting. The vote calling on him to resign was backed by the construction and maritime divisions, while mining and manufacturing opposed it, multiple sources said.

  10. Bit of dirt being thrown into peoples’ eyes.
    The claim is that 500 sole traders mistakenly added a 1500 in the wrong box and that this explains the cock up.
    500 times 1500 is 750,000.
    Not 3,000,000.

  12. Back in the day when the ALP was in government, Treasury forecast from Budget to final Budget outcome 12+ months later were often out by 50-100%.

    Par for the course.

  13. Stock futures in the US traded lower on Friday amid rising tensions between the US and China. China announced it will impose new national security legislation on Hong Kong and President Trump said the US would react “very strongly” against an attempt to gain more control over Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the Chinese Premier Li said at the National People’s Congress that the country’s armed forces will safeguard the China sovereignty, security and development interests. On Thursday, the Dow Jones lost 102 points or 0.4% to 24,474. The S&P 500 shed 23 points or 0.8% to 2949. The Nasdaq retreated 91 points or 1% to 9285.

    So….Trump says he will react ‘very strongly’…a declaration that is just risible. This is from a bloke who thinks a demonstration of strength is to avoid wearing a face mask…

  15. Palmer throws a massive tantrum because WA won’t let him in:

    Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer will challenge Western Australia’s hard border closure in the High Court next week after claims he was denied an exemption to enter the state.

    Mr Palmer was scheduled to enter the state last Friday on his private jet to meet with federal Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann and potential United Australia Party candidates for the 2021 WA election but said his application was knocked back by police.

    Mr Palmer said he was also travelling to meet Perth-based staff at his mining company Mineralogy.

    There he says he was planning to discuss the logistics and supply of the 32.9 million doses of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine he plans to donate to the Australian government’s national medical stockpile to study its effectiveness against COVID-19.

    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/coronavirus-updates-live-victoria-trump-says-g7-may-be-held-in-person-because-the-us-has-done-well-global-virus-cases-top-5-million-20200521-p54v8d.html#p50l6s

  16. Pegasus says:
    Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:17 pm
    CFMMEU in fresh turmoil as Setka-led bloc votes out national leader

    Yup. They have splitter’s syndrome. Will the Construction branch align with the Libkin? The question on everyone’s lips. Will the watermelon patch be merged with the pumpkins?

  17. John Setka is more likely to help his great mate and ally Bill Shorten regain the leadership rather than join the Greens. Setka’s problem is with Albo. Shorten let him have his fiefdom free of interference.

  19. Pegasus says:
    Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:22 pm
    Clive Palmer threatens High Court challenge to WA coronavirus border closure after being denied entry

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-22/clive-palmer-threatens-high-court-challenge-wa-border-closure/12276368

    “We’ll be filing papers on Monday and proceeding with a declaration that the lockdown border closure of Western Australia is unconstitutional,” he said.

    What a tosser he is. He does not get to make the rules.

  20. Mr Palmer was scheduled to enter the state last Friday on his private jet to meet with federal Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann …

    I don’t think Matthias will be too happy that Clive let everyone know that they are meeting in the run-up to the WA State election.

    And, isn’t it hilarious how Palmer Party candidates only ever seem to pop up at election time as preference harvesters for the Liberal Party and to enable Clive to run Anti Labor ads quasi-legitimately and say the things the Liberals would love to say out loud but can’t?

  24. Pegasus says:
    Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:31 pm
    To anyone who thinks Setka is going to join the Greens I have a bridge to sell you.

    He’d be right at home among the Libkin….seeing how much he detests Labor. You’d have a lot in common.

  25. Pegasus,

    D7M

    There was one in Trot in particular, Lee Rhiannion, who was instrumental in taking over and destroying the NDP. Although, more correctly she can be termed a Stalinist.
    Do you have any authoritative references to support this claim?

    My information mostly comes from the old hands in South Sydney and the Inner West, who were actually having espressos at Bar Italia in Leichhardt during the times when Rats in the Ranks was filmed. One very close friend actually stood for the NSW Upper House for a socialist party whose name I cannot remember. I will ask her which party it was. But, when I hear the name Hall Greenland, I do not think of the local Convenor of the Greens, I think of him as when I first heard about him as an Annandale ALP branch member.

    A potted history of this can be found in Paddy Manning’s 2017 article in the Monthly:
    https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2017/august/1501509600/paddy-manning/crashing-party#mtr

    But this reminds me that we do not live forever, and perhaps I should try and get some of these stories down in text, from the original sources, after I retire at the end of next year. We have already lost some of our great locals to illness in the past few years.

  26. Pegasus says:
    Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:32 pm

    nath

    Indeed.
    _______
    Can you imagine Setka in the Greens? Headbutting incidents would be up 2000%!!!!

  27. If the WA election becomes a referendum on the border closure I think Labor would win every seat there is.

  28. In fact….if the High Court were to find that WA could not manage its border on medical grounds I think 90% of the public would support secession.

  29. If the WA election becomes a referendum on the border closure I think Labor would win every seat there is.

    The only risk McGowan has is if the WA election becomes a referendum on economic recovery that hasn’t happened by then.

  30. In fact….if the High Court were to find that WA could not manage its border on medical grounds I think 90% of the public would support secession.

    90% support succession already surely … the HC doing that would push it out past 100%

  33. When you look at this site there are very few vocal anti labor types that are Green supporters or for that matter Liberals supporters.

    I put OC, nath and Rex in this category. I suspect they sit somewhere in the ever shifting sands of the socialist movement.

  35. From CNN…

    The coronavirus epidemic is far from over in the United States, with just 4% of Americans having been infected, according to a team of disease modelers at London’s Imperial College in the United Kingdom.

    Even in the worst affected states, less than a quarter of the population has been infected, they wrote in a report, which was posted on the university’s website.

    In New York, about 16.6% of people have been infected, compared to about 1% in California and less than 1% in Maine, the researchers said.

    “Our estimates suggest that the epidemic is not under control in much of the US,” they wrote, adding that “caution must be taken in loosening current restrictions if effective additional measures are not put in place.”

    “We predict that deaths over the next two-month period could exceed current cumulative deaths by greater than two-fold,” they added.
    Only a few states appear to have epidemics under control. The researchers measured this by looking at the virus’ reproduction rate — a rate of 1 means each infected person is only transmitting the virus to one other person. The higher the rate, the more people are getting infected.

    The states that have a rate of less than 1 include Montana, Hawaii, Wyoming, Alaska, West Virginia, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota and Maine.

    States with the highest reproductions rates are Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Ohio, according to the researchers.


  37. davidwh says:
    Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:40 pm

    CI yes why do the Libs insist on ensuring state Labor governments get ready-elected.

    I believe the black gangs nonsense really helped Labor in the last Victorian election. The average Victorian was not impressed with the effort to pull the state apart. I think the The current open boarder campaign us helping Labor is WA and Queensland.

  38. D&M

    There is nothing in that one article you supplied supporting your claim…

    There was one in Trot in particular, Lee Rhiannion, who was instrumental in taking over and destroying the NDP.

    Anything substantive to support your claim?

  39. The High Court has ruled that a state “may impede the entry into the state of persons, animals or goods that are likely to injure its citizens”.

    Surely that applies to Clive Palmer?

  40. When you look at this site there are very few vocal anti labor types that are Green supporters or for that matter Liberals supporters.

    I think your error here is the ‘anti-Labor’ characterization. I’m a member because i expect great things, I judge my side harshly, what the other sides do wrong really isn’t that important to me, so I’m 100% pro labor but opposed to Labor doing things I think are stupid and detrimental to the Labor cause, which of late has been most things we do. But hey that isn’t anti-Labor it is just anti-weak and stupid, I don’t want the next 25 years to pass, like the last 25 years, with us only winning one election and even that election being down to the LNP handing it to us.

  41. “If the WA election becomes a referendum on the border closure I think Labor would win every seat there is.”

    Yup. 🙂 I don’t think anyone would have a problem if Clive gets told to naff off. What i would love to see is Poorline jump on board as another plaintif. 🙂

  42. davidwh…the States have all done a pretty good for for mine…at least till the last few days when the wheels collaboration have fallen off in NSW.

    The Feds have lost the plot. Remarkable. They are clueless.

  44. Bulldust says:
    Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:44 pm
    I think that Labor’s running dead. They don’t want to inherit this total fuck up

    Very wisely Labor elected not to try to politicise the public health measures announced in relation to the pandemic. This was absolutely the right decision. Labor should be commended for it.

    The economic policy response will be a different game, however. The LibNats are out of their depth and the impact on jobs and wages will be felt very deeply.

  46. Losing 3 million employed people is quite a feat in this day and age of constant tracking, counting, data matching, yada, yada, yada.

  47. Singapore reported 614 new cases of Covid-19 today, tipping the national total past the 30,000 mark.

    The vast majority of the Asian city-state’s 30,426 cases are migrant workers living in dormitories, where clusters began emerging last month and have raged on despite authorities’ efforts to clamp down.

    The outbreak spiked highest in April, at one point reaching more than 1,000 cases per day for several days straight.

    Since then, it has fallen back down slightly — but remains high, with 400 to 800 cases a day.

    Some background: Around 1.4 million migrant workers live in Singapore, mostly employed in construction, manual labor and housekeeping. They largely hail from South and Southeast Asian countries, like India and Bangladesh, and make up a significant portion of the Singaporean workforce.

    Of these, about 200,000 live in 43 dormitories, according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.

    Each dorm room houses about 10 to 20 residents. They share toilet and shower facilities, eat in common areas, and sleep just feet away from each other. It’s nearly impossible to conduct social distancing — the consequences of which are becoming clear.

    The mistreatment of migrant/temporary workers in Singapore is shameful.

  48. “Losing 3 million employed people is quite a feat in this day and age of constant tracking, counting, data matching, yada, yada, yada.”

    Ahh..the sneaky 3 million that didn’t download the app then?? 🙂

  50. davidwh says:
    Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:53 pm
    CI please don’t tell anyone but I have developed an irrational respect for Anastasia.

    Lol. Your secret is safe with me.

    The best response of all has been in SA. Not a foot wrong from the very beginning.

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