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Australians Show Strong Backing for ALP
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The majority of people in Australia continue to express support for the governing party, according to a poll by Roy Morgan International. 52.5 per cent of respondents would vote for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the next election to the House of Representatives, up four points since early December.
The Coalition of Liberals and Nationals is second with 35.5 per cent, followed by the Australian Greens with six per cent, and Family First with 1.5 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 22-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. In September 2008, Turnbull won a new internal leadership race, edging Nelson by four votes.
Rudd’s administration and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)—the only peak council and national centre representing the Australian workforce—are currently in a row over wage increases. Earlier this month, Australian employment minister Julia Gillard asked employers and workers to show restraint in their demands for pay increases, saying, "After the global financial crisis, our economy is not going to be untouched and the most important thing is to make sure that Australians are still in work. In the short term, of course, our priority is maintenance, and protection, of jobs."
On Jan. 8, ACTU president Sharan Burrow backed a demand by the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union for wage increases of up to 33 per cent, saying, "If you don’t protect incomes, then that’s a negative for the economy as well. (…) If working people can’t pay their bills, if, in fact, their mortgage is threatened (…) then that’s not going to help the economy survive, nor indeed recover."
Polling Data
If a federal election for the House of Representatives were being held today, which party would receive your first preference?
|
|
Dec. 21 |
Dec. 7 |
Nov. 9 |
|
Australian Labor Party |
52.5% |
48.5% |
49% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
35.5% |
34.5% |
36% |
|
Australian Greens |
6% |
10.5% |
8.5% |
|
Family First |
1.5% |
2% |
2% |
|
Others |
4.5% |
4.5% |
4.5% |
Two-Party Preferred Vote
|
|
Dec. 21 |
Dec. 7 |
Nov. 9 |
|
Australian Labor Party |
61% |
59.5% |
59.5% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
39% |
40.5% |
40.5% |
Source: Roy Morgan International
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,717 Australian voters, conducted on Dec. 13, Dec. 14, Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, 2008. No margin of error was provided.