2nd April 2006

Health, Education, Energy and the Environment at the top of the list

In a major poll released today, the McNair Gallup Poll shows that the key priorities for Australia are Health, Education, and a range of environmental issues including finding alternative sources of fresh water and energy as well as family issues. However the same poll found that the Federal Government rates poorly on many of these issues.

Priorities for Australia

With some exceptions, the popular perceptions of what is the general order of priorities for Australia tended to be similar in most states. Public Health rated as the most important issue in all areas, closely followed by education (except in Tasmania). In third place were a set of related issues, depending on the particular situation in each state. In most parts of Australia, the issue of finding new fresh water sources came as the third most important issue, and amongst the top five issues were also 'the environment generally' and 'finding alternative energy sources'. Family issues tended to rate amongst the top issues, while the matter of fighting crime sat in the middle of the order of priorities.

Tasmania was the most notable exception, where fresh water supply and hydroelectric energy are more readily available than on the mainland.

* Results to be used with caution due to small sample size.

The McNair Gallup Poll asked respondents from across Australia to rate each of the issues on a scale of 1 - 10, where 1 was 'not important' to them, and 10 was 'extremely important'. On average, all the issues rated higher than a six, meaning that they were all regarded as important to some degree. Amongst the less important issues were Immigration and International issues.

The McNair Gallup Poll found that in regional Australia, Family Issues and Education rated 8.7, second only to public health.

Public health rated a 9.0 on the importance scale of 1 to 10 in both NSW and Queensland, where funding and quality control issues have reached crisis point on several occasions, particularly in regional areas. According to today's McNair Gallup Poll, after health and education, alternative energy and water sources are amongst the most important issues facing us today.

The McNair Gallup Poll also asked respondents to rate how well the Federal Government was performing on this same list of issues. The survey again used a scale of 1-10, where 1 was performing very poorly, and 10 was performing extremely well. The national Government only rated above the mid-point of the scale (5.5) on five of the fifteen issues. And while some individuals rated the Federal Government highly on some issues, the highest average score was a mediocre 6.3 out of 10, for national security.

* Results to be used with caution due to small sample size.

The McNair Gallup Poll clearly shows that many of the issues that the Federal Government is performing best on are not deemed to be the most important, while for many of the key issues the Government is rated to be performing towards the poor end of the scale.

According to McNair Gallup Poll researcher, Matt Balogh, some of the lower importance scores may be the result of the fact that the Government is performing well in those areas. 'Since September 11, Australia has not experienced a major terror attack on our own soil, which is no doubt a credit to the Government, and perhaps Australians take for granted the efforts of the Government in this area' says Mr Balogh. 'The same goes for the economy and interest rates. The Australian economy has performed exceptionally well, and we have probably forgotten the financial pain of very high interest rates or the strain of an economy in recession'.

'At the other end of the scale, it would appear that the Federal Government is too pre-occupied with international issues and our role in the region, and has failed to recognise that as a nation we are more locally focused on our children's future with health, education and the environment the top priorities' he says.

The results of the McNair Gallup Poll also show that the perceived gap between importance and performance on public health is greater in regional and rural areas. In the metropolitan state capital cities, the need to find a renewable energy source highlights the biggest gap between a need and the government's achievements. In fact, four of the top six gap issues were related to the environment.

The poll found two issues where the gap between importance and performance differed significantly between Australians living in the state capital cities and those in regional and rural areas. One was with respect to fighting crime, an issue that people in regional Australia were more likely to feel was not getting the attention it deserved, compared to city dwellers. The other related to immigration and the plight of refugees. This was more likely to be perceived as a gap between priority and performance by the Federal Government amongst city folk, compared to people in regional and rural areas.

Analysing the results by voting tendencies, Matt Balogh comments 'It is no surprise that the Coalition supporters regard the Federal Government's performance more favourably than Labor voters. However the order of performance is very similar for both sides of the political fence. Even amongst Coalition supporters, the top score was 7.1, and on issues such as renewable sources of water and energy, as well as global warming, we can see the Coalition's own supporters rating the government with a mediocre 5 or less'.

'Another interesting finding was that women tended to rate the issues higher on the importance scale than men. However they also rated the Federal government's performance slightly more favourably, so, on balance, the gap was bigger amongst men than amongst women' notes Matt Balogh.

Comparing the results amongst different age groups, today's McNair Gallup Poll found that people aged 60+ rated the Federal Government's performance best on the fifteen issues discussed in the survey, while those aged 30-39 gave the Government the lowest scores. However the biggest gaps in importance ratings and performance were perceived by those aged 40 - 59 years of age.

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28th March 2006

Multiculturalism works

The latest McNair Gallup Poll shows that 81% of Australians are in favour of Multiculturalism, while less than one-in-five people don't think it works. Across the five state capital cities, nearly half the population (48%) say that multiculturalism 'works well and should be encouraged', while those in regional and rural areas are more apprehensive, with only a third (34%) of the population agreeing that it works well and should be encouraged, but even in the bush the majority still believe it works to some degree.

Victorians, followed by people in NSW are the most confident of the workability of multiculturalism, while those in Queensland and Western Australia are slightly more likely to say that multiculturalism doesn't work.

* Results to be used with caution due to small sample size.

Multiculturalism is the public policy of embracing cultural diversity within Australia. The notion began in Switzerland in the 1950s, and was later adopted by Canada, before spreading to Australia. Both Labor and Liberals incorporate it in their platforms, with the current government's key statement being set out in Multicultural Australia: United in Diversity, released in May 2003.

According to researcher, Matt Balogh, those advocating that Multiculturalism doesn't and can't work are on the outer. 'We have enough experience and history under our belts to be able to declare multiculturalism a success'. According to Mr Balogh 'While there are some aspects of how we manage multiculturalism in Australia that we can improve, this poll shows that the kinds of views expressed by Australia First, and the behaviour that we saw in Cronulla, are not in-line with how the vast majority of Australians feel'. He adds 'As a social researcher, it is fascinating to see how second and third generation Australians have maintained aspects of their heritage'.

The results of the McNair Gallup Poll also show that young people are considerably more likely to believe that multiculturalism works (95%). The poll results clearly show an increasing apprehension amongst the older generations. Women are also more likely to believe that multiculturalism works (82%) compared to men (79%). According to researcher Matt Balogh, 'This poll shows that we can expect to see less opposition to multiculturalism in future years as the young generation who have grown up in multicultural schools and suburbs become the prevailing voice of Australia. It will be interesting to see how well customs can be carried down through the generations. Already we are seeing a loss of the second language amongst second and third generation Australians'.

* Results to be used with caution due to small sample size.

The McNair Gallup Poll also asked respondents whether they felt the level of immigration into Australia should remain as it is, be increased or decreased. The most commonly held view was that the level of immigration should remain unchanged (44%). This question also revealed quite different views across different areas of Australia. For instance, 29% of people in the main capital cities responded that immigration should be increased, which was twice the proportion who wanted to see immigration increased in regional and rural Australia. In fact, four-in-ten people living outside of the big cities said that they felt that immigration should be decreased. Victorians were the most likely to say that immigration should be increased, while, of the mainland states, Queenslanders were the most likely to say that immigration should be decreased.

Commenting on the results amongst men and women, McNair Gallup Poll researcher Matt Balogh observed 'While women were more positive than men about multiculturalism, when we asked them about immigration, they were more likely than men to suggest that immigration levels should be reduced. In fact, only one-in-five women wanted to see immigration levels increased'. He also noted that young people were twice as likely to be in favour of increasing immigration (31%) as older people (15% amongst those aged 60+).

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21st March 2006

Dump the Queen but Keep The Commonwealth

According to a McNair Gallup poll released today, while most Australians believe we should become a Republic, they still see our membership of The Commonwealth as important, quite apart from The Commonwealth Games.

Most participants (55%) in the national poll of 1,000 adults said that Australia should become a Republic. However amongst Australians in regional and rural areas, only 49% felt that Australia should become a Republic, compared to 59% across the state capital cities. According to researcher Matt Balogh, the Republican sentiment could shift over time, with 7% of people in regional and rural areas undecided.

* Results to be used with caution due to small sample size.

The McNair Gallup Poll also found that should Australia become a republic, the vast majority would prefer to see the Head of State elected by the people rather than by the Parliament. People in regional and rural Australia were the most likely to support a popularly elected Head of State.

When asked about the importance of The Commonwealth, the poll found quite different views between city dwellers and country Australians. While a narrow majority of people living in the state capital cities said that The Commonwealth was either 'Not Very Important' or 'Not at all important', in regional areas, nearly two thirds of people said that The Commonwealth was either 'Very important' or 'Important'.

The poll showed that using a scale of Very Important, Important, Not Very Important and Not At All Important, most people had quite moderate views about The Commonwealth, with less than one-in-five (18%) of people saying that The Commonwealth was 'Very important', and only 12% of people who said that The Commonwealth was 'Not at all important'.

The poll showed that views on the Republic are strongly tied to political views, with 68% of Labor voters in favour of Australia becoming a Republic, compared to 38% of Coalition voters. However both sides of the fence agree that if the island continent did become a Republic, the Head of State should be selected by a ballot amongst the people. When asked about the importance of The Commonwealth, Labor voters were fairly evenly divided in their views, with 52% saying that it was important, and 48% rating The Commonwealth as not important. The role of The Commonwealth was more significant for Coalition supporters, with 62% of conservative voters rating The Commonwealth as 'Very Important' or 'Important'.

The survey also shows that rich people are happier. Those surveyed in households with an average income of over $100,000 per annum had an average happiness score of 7.9, far higher than those with incomes below $100,000. Conversely, people living in households with total incomes of below $30,000 per annum were the least happy, with a score of 7.4.

When the survey results were compared along political lines, the survey found that Coalition supporters rated themselves with an average score of 7.8, making them typically happier than Labor supporters, who had an average score of 7.6. Supporters of The Greens were the least happy, with an average score of 7.5.

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21st March 2006

Australian View on Economic Situation of Self, Country and World

A BBC World Service poll asked citizens of 32 nations to share their thoughts on their personal/family economic situation, their country's economic stance and the world's economic condition.

Australia was placed 7th most optimistic about their own and family's economic situation amongst all 32 nations. Well over half of the Australian population (61%) felt hopeful of their own and their family's economic condition, which greatly exceeded the world average of 46%. Just under a quarter (23%) of Australians did not feel as optimistic, which was considerably below the world average of 36%. The nations, which had the majority of their population pessimistic about their own and family's economic situation, were Zimbabwe, Congo, Italy, South Korea, Kenya and France. More Australians (14%) thought their own and family's economic situation would remain the same, compared to only 4% of the world population believed the same.