Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research

Rudd’s ALP Keeps Strong Mandate in Australia

July 25, 2008

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The governing Australian Labor Party (ALP) continues to have the most followers in the country, according to a poll by Roy Morgan International. 48 per cent of respondents would vote for the ALP in the next election to the House of Representatives, practically unchanged since early July.

The Coalition of Liberals and Nationals is second with 34.5 per cent, followed by the Australian Greens with 11.5 per cent, and Family First with 2.5 per cent. Australia’s preferential voting system—where electors indicate an order of predilection for each contender, and the ballots from smaller parties are re-distributed—gives the ALP a 19-point lead over the Coalition.

Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave the ALP 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. ALP leader Kevin Rudd was officially sworn in as prime minister in December, bringing an end to the 11-year tenure of Liberal leader John Howard as head of Australia’s government.

Howard failed to retain his seat in the Bennelong constituency and stepped down as Liberal leader. Brendan Nelson—a former defence minister—defeated former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull in an internal leadership ballot by just three votes.

On Jul. 23, Rudd suggested that the time has come to recognize the rights of aboriginal Australians in the country’s constitution, saying that his government would "give attention to detailed, sensitive consultation with indigenous communities about the most appropriate form and timing of constitutional recognition."

Last February, Rudd became the first head of government to formally apologize to Australia’s Aboriginal population for what is known as the Stolen Generations. For over 60 years and into the 1970s, the Australian government—and Catholic Church missions—forcibly removed Australia’s Aboriginal children from their families and placed them in institutions or with foster families.

Polling Data

If a federal election for the House of Representatives were being held today, which party would receive your first preference?

 

Jul. 13

Jul. 6

Jun. 22

Australian Labor Party

48%

48.5%

52%

Coalition (Liberal / National)

34.5%

35%

34%

Australian Greens

11.5%

8%

8%

Family First

2.5%

2.5%

1.5%

Others

3.5%

6%

4.5%

Two-Party Preferred Vote

 

Jul. 13

Jul. 6

Jun. 22

Australian Labor Party

59.5%

59%

61.5%

Coalition (Liberal / National)

40.5%

41%

38.5%

Source: Roy Morgan International
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 797 Australian voters, conducted on Jul. 12 and Jul. 13, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

 

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