4 June 2002
Republic Issue Alive and Complex in Australia Today
While most Australians would like to see this country become a Republic, the majority of modern Republicans are looking for a different model to that put forward in the 1999 referendum which was defeated.
According to a large national survey conducted by McNair Ingenuity Research in late April and early May 2002, 54% of adult Australians would like to see us become a Republic, but Republicans (64%) are looking for a new or different model to the 1999 one that emerged from the Constitutional Convention and put to the vote three years ago.
The survey that included over 1,000 people from every state and territory also showed that Republican feelings had changed in recent years. Half of those who want a Republic have changed how they feel about it. A quarter of today's Republicans were not concerned about the Republic or did not consider themselves Republicans a few years ago, but now say they are in favour of a Republic. Nineteen percent of Republicans say they feel more strongly about it now than they did a few years ago, while 7% feel less strongly about it than they did a few years ago.
The graph below shows the proportion of the total population, men and women, and by age group who support our current constitutional monarchy, those who support the 1999 referendum model for a Republic and those who support a Republic with a new model.
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| The research shows that while Monarchists are in a minority, a split in the ranks is handicapping the introduction of a Republic. While younger Republicans are content with the 1999 model, those in their 40s are looking for a new model. The survey also used a Social Outlook model to study how people looked at the world in general. By using this analysis, research leader Matt Balogh discovered that monarchists were more likely to generally have a pessimistic outlook and be more concerned with local issues than global ones. Republicans who continued to support the 1999 model tended to be people who were not afraid of change and more optimistic than others. Conversely, those looking for a new Republican model had two defining attributes - they tended to look more at the `big picture' but were also people who gave more attention to detail. | |
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How This Poll Was Conducted This topic was included in the ongoing Australians Today research program conducted by McNair Ingenuity Research. The survey was conducted by means of inviting over 2,000 people aged 18+ from across Australia to participate in the survey by telephone and then sending them a self-completion questionnaire to fill out. A total of 1,032 people completed their questionnaires by the due date. The combination of a telephone recruitment and self-completion questionnaire ensures a representative sample as well as giving participants the opportunity to complete the survey at their leisure. The recruitment interviews were conducted by trained interviewers according to standards set-out by Interviewer Quality Control Australia.
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can learn more about McNair Ingenuity Research by visiting www.mcnairingenuity.com or calling Client Services Director Matt Balogh on 02 9966 9133 |
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