Essential Research: leadership and COVID-19 approval ratings

A narrowing lead for Scott Morrison as preferred prime minister punctuates an otherwise stable picture in Essential Research’s latest set of leadership and COVID-19 performance ratings.

The Guardian reports the latest fortnightly Essential Research poll includes its monthly leadership ratings, which find Scott Morrison’s lead over Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister is now at 49-26, in from 55-22 last time and the narrowest it has been since early February. However, movements on leaders’ ratings are apparently more modest: Morrison is down two on approval to 64%, with his disapproval rating yet to be disclosed (UPDATE: Up five to 28%, so perhaps not as modest as that), while Albanese is steady on approval at 44% and down one on disapproval to 29%.

Fifty-nine per cent now express approval for the federal government’s handling of the pandemic, down two on a fortnight ago. The poll was conducted before Sunday’s announcement of extended restrictions in Victoria, but the small-sample breakdown for that state finds approval of the state government’s performance up three to 50%, compared with falls of two points in New South Wales to 57% and six points in Queensland to 66%. The WA government is up three to a new high of 87%, although at this point sample sizes get very small indeed: as with much else in this poll, we will have to wait for the publication of the full report this afternoon for numbers from South Australia. The latter figure aside, the following chart shows how the various governments’ favourable ratings on this measure have progressed since March:

Concerning COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities, 41% now blame the providers, down a point on a fortnight ago, with 31% blaming the federal government, up three, and 28% blaming state and territory governments, down two. The poll finds 36% support for increasing the Medicare levy from 2% to 2.65% to fund improvements to aged care, with 32% opposed and 32% uncommitted.

Forty-nine per cent favoured a proposition that Google and Facebook should have to pay for news content, compared with 38% for the alternative that “it is not up to the tech giants to support media companies” (as per the wording in The Guardian’s report). The poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1076.

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.

1,463 comments on “Essential Research: leadership and COVID-19 approval ratings”

Comments Page 12 of 30
1 … 11 12 13 … 30

  2. “An announcement by the Government?”

    Australia orders 84 million doses of coronavirus vaccine for massive free roll-out next year

    It has now secured agreement for that [Oxford] vaccine, along with another candidate from the University of Queensland and CSL, also to be produced locally, as part of a $1.7 billion supply and production agreement.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-06/free-coronavirus-vaccine-to-be-made-available-throughout-20212/12635174

  4. Regarding contact tracing :

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2020/sep/09/coronavirus-australia-latest-update-victoria-nsw-contact-tracing-hotel-inquiry-health-business-economy-scott-morrison-daniel-andrews

    Good morning

    Victorian contact tracers are off to New South Wales to study that state’s contact tracing system, as the debate over Victoria’s preparedness to deal with the pandemic, continues. …..

    Yesterday, the ABC’s health advisor, Dr Norman Swan said he believed NSW had just got lucky. But the prime minister has called it the ‘gold standard’ in contact tracing, so that is where Victoria is off to.

    Victoria’s chief health officer, Professor Brett Sutton also spoke to Melbourne radio 3AW yesterday and admitted that at the beginning of the second wave, “numbers got beyond Victoria’s [tracing] capacity to deal with every case in a timely way”.

    *****
    I saw the interview with Norman Swan yesterday and actually it was curious; Swan certainly said that NSW got lucky, but he then went on to say that in effect that NSW does have a better system on the ground, and that Victoria’s system failed during the 2009 swine flu epidemic. Daniel Andrews was Victoria’s Health minister in 2009.

    https://www.facebook.com/breakfastnews/videos/vb.74945553982/3334236699964234/?type=2&theater

    I presume that Swan is referring to this :

    “On 3 June 2009, the state of Victoria escalated from CONTAIN to SUSTAIN. The SUSTAIN phase in Victoria meant that less effort was given to tracing and testing, as there would have been insufficient resources available to do this. Antiviral drugs in this phase were only available to confirmed cases or their immediate contacts.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_pandemic_in_Australia#Victoria

  5. There are so many reports to make me angry today.

    While it’s unlikely we will know exactly how much money was effectively wasted by the JobKeeper program for a long time to come, there is clear evidence that the policy is extremely flawed.

    Whether it’s priests claiming the benefit, Liberal and Labor party staff or billionaires using it to drive record corporate profits, the policy is potentially history’s single most wasteful endeavour ever undertaken by an Australian government.

    One day, when the pandemic has finally abated and the damage to the Federal budget is finally assessed, we will look on with deep sadness and disappointment. Not just because the debt has risen to troubling new heights, but because of what we could have achieved with that money as a nation.

    The new world we could have built, that ended homelessness and got every Australian with mental health issues the help they need or any number of other important issues that could have been addressed. But instead, the Morrison Government has likely blown tens of billions of dollars on quasi corporate welfare, which has done little but boost dividends and executive bonuses.

    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-waste-of-jobkeeper-could-have-housed-the-homeless,14286

  8. Coronavirus Victoria: 76 new cases, 11 more deaths

    Daily coronavirus infections have risen again in Victoria with 76 new cases and 11 more deaths reported overnight.

  9. Swan was also at pains to say how Victorians hate him raising his 2009 criticism. Wonder if that is a complaint about blowback at government or social media level or both.

  10. The miraculous event of Mitch Marsh guiding a WA all-rounder laden Aussie team to victory in a dead rubber will only fortify Justin Langer’s resolve to flood the team with swipers who occasionally make runs.

  14. C@tmomma says: Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 6:09 am
    Aaaarrrggghhh!!! ‘Hospital corners’!
    I still do them though every time I make my bed.

    Even after taking up being an EN in 1978 (did my back in in late 1991) I find I still can’t break the habit of hospital cornering when making a bed either.

  16. Andrew Elder:

    The trouble is that all successful opposition leaders are aggressive and push the government out. The old saw that “oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them” is dead wrong – the opposite is true. Abbott, Rudd, Howard, Hawke and Fraser all knew that time is short and life is cruel, and each pushed hard until they could afford to be gracious on election night. Unsuccessful opposition leaders, from Sir John Latham to Mark Latham, all played The Long Game and fat lot of good it did them.

    Albanese seems to lead a united team in Canberra. Plibersek, Burke, and Bowen are all from NSW and all have similar strengths and weaknesses to himself.

    http://andrewelder.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-press-gallery-is-broken.html

  17. “Shellbell says:
    Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 8:28 am
    Swan was also at pains to say how Victorians hate him raising his 2009 criticism. Wonder if that is a complaint about blowback at government or social media level or both.”

    At least on this Swan can’t* be accused of favouring one side or the other…

    *Actually make that “shouldn’t” – while he can & should always be criticised on the facts & on their interpretation, political partisans will still find any criticism of their side as “bias”.

  20. For those of you talking about Le Tour last night, the super big story was missed by all of you.

    Christian Prudhomme (the race director) tested positive for Covid. His guest on the previous stage in the race was Jean Castex – French PM.

  22. France has been recording daily cases that would be eye watering to us. Yesterday 4500 I believe and day before 8000.
    Apparently only 500 in ICU compared to the peak in May of 8000.
    It’s been attributed to younger people getting covid.
    I’m just thinking they are heading towards winter in a few months.
    Gulp

  24. The British government says tough new restrictions on social gatherings will be implemented from next week across the whole of England, after a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases.

    Officials said from Monday, the legal limit on all social gatherings in England would be reduced from the current 30 people to just six.

    The new law will apply indoors and outdoors, including private homes, restaurants and parks.

    Failure to comply could result in a 100-pound (AU$180) fine.

    A spike in coronavirus cases across the UK has been largely blamed on party-going young adults disregarding social distancing rules.

    Downing Street said urgent action was needed after the number of daily laboratory-confirmed positive cases hit nearly 3,000 on Sunday.

  26. Re: A quick vaccine. Many of us remember AIDS, and watching friends die from about 1985-1993 while we desperately hoped for a vaccine or cure….anything…. these things dont happen at the same pace as politicians, or spin merchants or people with a short attention span hope. This maybe a very long haul.

    Re: Contact tracing. Having been a Senior Manager in Health, NSW has the advantage of economy of scale for all types of electronic systems that the smaller states cant afford, I imagine contact tracing maybe on of them. Victoria is not that much smaller, so perhaps it should have had one as well.
    Of course,these things should probably be purchased and rolled at centrally at a national level….

  27. I guess mundo will have some great advice for Labor in response to me posting this tweet

    Juanita Phillips
    @Juanita_Phillip
    ·
    23h
    Is the CovidSafe app playing any part in Victoria’s contact tracing? Genuine question. We don’t seem to hear about it any more.

  30. I love winter in Melbourne.
    It gets cold enough to enjoy the crisp air. Wearing comfy coats scarves and boots. Going to the local cafe for a hot chocolate or coffee.
    Briskly Walking to the MCG amongst the trees and park anticipating a great game of football.
    This year winter was our enemy.
    Sigh….

  32. I guess Victoria stuffed up by getting nurses from WA. (Sarcasm)

    Frances Bell
    @bellfrances
    ·
    14h
    .
    @RogerCookMLA
    confirms of one of the 19 WA nurses who volunteered to work in Victoria, in aged care, has tested positive to COVID-19.
    She is in hotel quarantine.
    6 WA colleagues who are considered close contacts are also in separate hotel quarantine.

  33. ————
    unlike Dems, the GOP understands the electorate. They don’t have over-glorified perceptions of voter acumen.
    ————
    From the link in ‘fess’ post.

    Wow. Not a great endorsement for democracy. To win you need rusted on followers who care more about their political tribe than the country or themselves, then target people who don’t give a hoot and dumb enough to fall for outright lies and fearMongering. Preferably after you have cornered the only traditionally media they watch and then use exe micro targeting through social media.

    Could you design a more dysfunctional political system?

  34. In all seriousness, if this was a list of places people attended here in Melbourne, there would not be a few cases amongst them. There would be dozens at once.
    Example in colac last week. One infection led to 24 more people getting infected. Even though the initial source was established within 24 hours.
    Is it more contagious here in Victoria?

    It is weird.

    https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/07/coronavirus-nsw-hotspots-list-regional-sydney-covid-19-outbreak-locations?__twitter_impression=true

  35. I was just ordering some dvds from JB HiFi when I was presented with the shipping options.

    The fastest option, which added $15(!) to the total is the “Express Post” option. That was going to take 16 days to get to me. Sixteen @#$%ing days!!!!!

    Bugger that, I’ll just go to my local store and buy them in person, while of course observing appropriate social distancing guidelines.

  38. SK

    We saw this in action in Australia. We too suffer like the US and UK from Murdoch.

    We saw the ignorant vote for Morrison against Shorten.

    Abbott’s Australian legacy lives on.

  39. guytaur says:
    Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 9:02 am
    A paywall free source for that Oxford Vaccine News
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-09/coronavirus-vaccine-on-hold-patient-adverse-illness-astrazeneca/12643812

    The drug companies are not going to fall into the trap of rushing out a vaccine just because people like Trump and Morrison make big PR announcements designed to benefit themselves.

    In the US:

    The chief executives of nine drug companies have pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s quest for a coronavirus vaccine before the country’s election day in November.

    The drug companies have publicly pledged not to seek regulatory approval for any vaccines before their safety and efficacy has been established in Phase 3 clinical trials.

    “We believe this pledge will help ensure public confidence in the rigorous scientific and regulatory process by which covid-19 vaccines are evaluated and may ultimately be approved,” the executives wrote in their joint statement.

    The Wall Street Journal first reported on Friday that a statement from the companies would be forthcoming.

    The statement included a vow that the companies would “only submit for approval or emergency use authorisation after demonstrating safety and efficacy through a Phase 3 clinical study that is designed and conducted to meet requirements of expert regulatory authorities such as FDA [Food and Drug Administration]”.

    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/drug-companies-issue-vaccine-safety-pledge-amid-trump-s-quest-for-pre-election-approval-20200908-p55tpf.html

  41. Is the CovidSafe app playing any part in Victoria’s contact tracing? Genuine question. We don’t seem to hear about it any more.

    I don’t know but it appears that it is playing no role anywhere. All Government advertising urging us to download it ceased months ago (at least in Sydney).

    Let’s see – we have

    – a completely dud app, millions down the drain
    – billions in stimulus going to dividends and executive pay

    Where’s all the fuss – remember the furore over a few cheques to dead people?

  42. Victoria @ #575 Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 – 9:10 am

    I guess mundo will have some great advice for Labor in response to me posting this tweet

    Juanita Phillips
    @Juanita_Phillip
    ·
    23h
    Is the CovidSafe app playing any part in Victoria’s contact tracing? Genuine question. We don’t seem to hear about it any more.

    It’s a shame Labor threw all it’s eggs into Scrooter’s Covid app nonsense…hard to get ’em back now so they’d have something to throw AT him.
    Is that ok, Vic?

  43. Danama Papers
    Postage from Melbourne is currently SHITE. I have a parcel “due Friday 4th” that last heard of has been in Melbourne since the 1st. Actually it is not just Melbourne. Recently received an order from overseas,Latvia, 5 countries in 4 days, after getting to Sydney it took a further 9 days to get to ‘Nieuw Holland’.

  44. Steve777 @ #589 Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 – 9:31 am

    Is the CovidSafe app playing any part in Victoria’s contact tracing? Genuine question. We don’t seem to hear about it any more.

    I don’t know but it appears that it is playing no role anywhere. All Government advertising urging us to download it ceased months ago (at least in Sydney).

    Let’s see – we have

    – a completely dud app, millions down the drain
    – billions in stimulus going to dividends and executive pay

    Where’s all the fuss – remember the furore over a few cheques to dead people?

    Mundo does, but Labor seems to have forgotten. A pity, it’d give ’em some nice amo to fire back.

  45. A couple of articles from the New Daily that must have dropped too late for BK’s Dawn Patrol:

    Garry Linell likens the pile on of Daniel Andrews to the potato blight famine in Ireland in the 19th Century, where profits matter more than lives.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2020/09/09/garry-linnell-profits-over-people/

    Cait Kelly reports on the Falun Gong cult trying to brainwash Australians.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/09/09/facebook-falun-gong-influence/

  49. guytaur says:
    Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 9:26 am
    SK

    We saw this in action in Australia. We too suffer like the US and UK from Murdoch.

    We saw the ignorant vote for Morrison against Shorten.

    Abbott’s Australian legacy lives on.

    Abbott is Bob Brown’s gift to Australia. Had Brown collaborated with Rudd instead of Abbott in 2009 Abbott would have failed in 2010 and been dumped. We might still have a Labor Government.

    Brown was reimbursed for his exertions by Gillard, who mistook the Green Trojans for allies.

  50. Those who volunteer for drug trials, particularly for a C.19 vaccine, are brave souls. That said, one participant, suffering an adverse reaction is not of itself remarkable. And I daresay the trial will recommence soon.

Comments Page 12 of 30
1 … 11 12 13 … 30

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *