A growing number of Australians are concerned about the quality of government, according to the latest ANUpoll, released today.

The poll, Attitudes to government and government services, probed public views on government and government services and how these services should change in the years ahead. It found that satisfaction with democracy in Australia had declined to its lowest level since 1998, after peaking in 2007, although it still remained high by international standards.

There was strong support in the poll for more expenditure on social services, with 55 per cent of respondents in favour of this suggestion. On the other hand, 39 per cent wanted reduced taxes, which was substantially lower than in 1987, when 65 per cent took this view.

The poll also found that most Australians wanted more taxes on banks, mining companies and companies producing carbon pollution and there was strong support for tax cuts for small businesses, people with low incomes and those contributing to retirement funds.

Among the other findings from the poll:

• half of the population believes that the Federal Government has enough power;
• more people believe that unemployment and taxes have increased, but the standard of living has improved;
• the public is generally supportive of reforms to the tax and welfare systems; and
• 40 per cent of respondents prefer to deal with a government department in person.

This is the eleventh ANUpoll. ANUpoll is a regular survey of Australian public opinion on matters of national importance. It forms part of the mission of the university to conduct research of the highest quality and to engage with government and the community on public policy issues. This poll was conducted by Professor Ian McAllister from the School of Politics and International Relations at ANU.

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The public sees pokies as part of the problem, and government regulation as part of the solution, according to the latest ANUpoll, released today.

The poll, Public Opinion on Gambling, took a snapshot of Australian attitudes towards gambling and potential government regulation. It found there was considerable support for at least some forms of government regulation – including pre-commitment betting limits – even among people who gamble frequently.

However, the poll also found that the public is concerned that gambling regulation should not go too far. Two thirds of respondents believed people should have the right to gamble whenever they want, while 42 per cent believe the government has no right to restrict a person’s gambling. Only 24 per cent were supportive of a total ban on gambling.

The poll also found that people most often associate gambling problems with playing poker machines, followed by gambling on horse and greyhound races and casino table games. Also, people believe there are too many opportunities for people to gamble.

Among the other findings from the poll are:

• Less than half the respondents thought that gambling activities are advertised responsibly, and only a third thought that gambling regulations are properly enforced.
• Problem gambling is associated, in the public mind, with alcohol abuse, suicide, marital problems, parental neglect and being less compassionate.
• Close to half of respondents (47 per cent) believed that people with gambling problems would be likely to experience discrimination from others.
• While most Australians would know where to turn to get help for gambling problems, 39 per cent said they would not know where to go.

This is the tenth ANUpoll. ANUpoll is a regular survey of Australian public opinion on matters of national importance. It forms part of the mission of the university to conduct research of the highest quality and to engage with government and the community on public policy issues. This poll was conducted by Dr Tanya Davidson and Associate Professor Jonathan Mond from the Centre for Gambling Research at ANU, with Professor Ian McAllister from the ANU School of Political and International Relations.

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Increased use of the Internet is leading to a more politically engaged and socially inclusive society, according to the latest ANU Poll.

The latest ANU Poll, released today – The Internet and Civil Society – shows that far from increasing social isolation because users are in front of a computer screen, the Internet is actually having a positive effect on civil society.

In the lead up to the roll out of the National Broadband Network, the report takes a snapshot of Internet usage in Australia including how many households have Internet access, how often people use the Internet and what they use it for. Some of the findings from ANU Poll include:

• Frequent Internet use is helping people with social interaction. For example, 54 per cent of respondents said that the Internet helped them interact with people from other countries.
• Increased Internet usage is not leading to a more individualistic society. For example, 70 per cent of those who use the Internet more than once a day felt that to be a good citizen it was very important to support people who are worse off than themselves.
• Around one third of respondents say that the Internet has helped them interact with people of a different race from their own, and half of respondents say the Internet has helped them interact with people from other countries.
• Around one in four respondents said they have visited the websites of political organisations or candidates, and one in five said they had forwarded electronic messages with political content.
• A total of 82 per cent of respondents have broadband access, and two-thirds say they use the Internet at least once a day.

This is the eighth ANU Poll. ANU Poll is a survey of Australian public opinion on matters of national importance. ANU Poll differs from other opinion polls by benchmarking Australia against international opinion. This poll was conducted by Professor Ian McAllister and Dr Juliet Pietsch of the School of Political and International Relations at ANU.

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Australians are more interested in science than sport and feel that politicians are failing to listen to the advice of the nation’s scientists, according to the latest ANU Poll, released today.

The latest ANU Poll looked at public attitudes about science. It found that far from being a nation of sports obsessives, Australians would prefer to hear about health issues, medical discoveries and the environment in their news bulletins. However, the poll also found that the public felt poorly informed about science, are confused about climate science, and think politicians are too easily swayed by media reaction when they should be listening to scientists.

The report’s authors, Dr Will J Grant and Dr Rod Lamberts of the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU, said the findings knock for six the sport-loving stereotype.

“What’s remarkable is that we see Australians saying they are more interested in science, technology and medical issues than films, music and even that most sacred Aussie pastime — sport,” said Dr Lamberts.

“The results also show that the Australian public overwhelmingly think politicians should rely more on the advice of expert scientists, and that they are too easily swayed by media reactions to scientific issues. It’s heartening to know that people have faith in our experts, especially at such a critical point in our history,” added Dr Grant.

Other key findings from ANU Poll include:

• A large number of people feel poorly informed about science;
• Australians believe that scientists, doctors, engineers, teachers, police and the military make a significant contribution to society, but are less positive about priests, politicians and journalists;
• Australians are positive about the benefits of science, but believe that science is not solving the problems of poverty and hunger around the world;
• The Australian public remains divided and unsure about climate science, both in terms of what climate scientists think is happening with climate change, and its causes;
• Australians feel that politicians do not properly consider scientific advice;
• Almost three in ten Australians are dissatisfied with the way the country is heading, and a significant increase has been seen in the number of people seeing ‘better government’ as the key problem facing Australia.

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More than half of Australians want the country’s population to stay at or go below current levels according to the latest ANU Poll, released today.

The poll — Public opinion towards population growth in Australia — took a wide-ranging snapshot of Australian attitudes towards population policy, environment and infrastructure, immigration and fertility and the ageing population. The results show diverse attitudes towards population levels, and public concerns about the environment, the economy and current and future levels of immigration.

Additionally, findings from the poll show that Australians are concerned about the government’s ability to tackle the challenges of an ageing population.

Key findings from the poll include:

• 44 per cent of Australians favour population growth, while 52 per cent want the population to remain at or below current levels;
• Opposition to population increase is broadly-based, with concerns about the effect on the economy and the environment;
• A majority of Australians think the world’s population is too large and is causing environmental damage;
• Half of the country say people should consider limiting the sizes of their families in order to minimise the impact of population growth;
• 16 per cent of Australians would want to see population increase through more immigration rather than through increased fertility;
• Two thirds of Australians say the ageing population will cause real problems — a majority are concerned about the government’s ability to tackle the problem and reject increased taxes as a solution.

This is the seventh ANU Poll. ANU Poll is a survey of Australian public opinion of matters on matters of national importance. ANU Poll differs from other opinion polls by benchmarking Australia against international opinion. The poll was conducted by Professor Ian McAllister, Dr Juliet Pietsch and Mr Aaron Martin of the School of Political and International Relations at ANU.

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Drought and water shortages are regarded by a clear majority of Australians as the most serious problems facing rural Australia, according to the results of the latest ANU Poll published in The Canberra Times today.

The poll also found that the Federal government is regarded by the majority of respondents as the agency most responsible for solving the problems of regional and rural Australia.

The sixth ANU Poll provides an insight into what the Australian public thinks are the main problems facing regional Australia, the nation’s rural background and rural knowledge, perceptions of rural Australia, as well perceptions regarding agriculture, farming and food.

According to Professor Ian McAllister, who leads ANU Poll, opinions are divided on the use of biotechnology in food production and agriculture, with 50 per cent of Australians supporting the process and 39 per cent opposing it. Those against the use of biotechnology were almost equally divided between moderate and strong opponents.

“Since it first became a commercial possibility in the 1980s, the genetic modification of crops to obtain greater yields has been a contentious issue,” said Professor McAllister. “Trials of genetically modified crops have produced strong, sometimes violent, opposition from those who see it as potentially dangerous to food supply.”

“It is perhaps significant that those in support were predominantly moderate supporters, suggesting that strong feelings were likely to be generated in opposition to the new technology.”

“There is also a significant minority view that foods produced through the biotechnology poses serious health risks. When asked if they believed that foods produced in this way posed a risk, 31 per cent said that they did pose a risk, and 46 per cent said that they did not pose a risk.”

The poll found that a large majority of Australians consider that agricultural production and rural areas as very important for Australia’s future. “More than eight out of ten respondents see both as important to Australia’s future. Australia’s historical legacy as a primary producing country has given agriculture and rural living a high profile among the public,” said Dr Linda Botterill, Director of the National Institute of Rural and Regional Australia at ANU, who contributed her expertise to the poll design,

Every ANU Poll asks Australians to identify the most important problems facing the country, and checks the political mood. In the current ANU Poll, 32 per cent mentioned the economy as the most important problem, a decline from 42 percent in the previous poll. Conversely the environment and global warming were mentioned by 14 per cent, an increase in four percentage points, followed by immigrations (down two points) and health care (up two points).

“The political mood has been remarkably positive over the period of the ANU Poll surveys and this poll is no exception. A remarkably high 70 per cent are satisfied with the way the country is heading, compared to 71 per cent in July,” Professor McAllister said.

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A narrow majority of Australians favour government spending to stimulate the economy in response to the Global Financial Crisis, but two-thirds of the public are concerned about the effects that the debt will have on future generations, according the results of the latest ANU Poll published in The Canberra Times.

The fifth ANU Poll provides insight into what the Australian public thinks about the recession, the stimulus package, tax policy and economic policy. It also found that the majority of Australians think the amount of tax they pay is about right and that infrastructure spending, rather than tax cuts, are the main means of improving the economy.

According to Professor Ian McAllister, who leads ANU Poll, one of the most surprising findings from the poll was that Australians are remarkably upbeat about the future despite the financial crisis.

“When the respondents were asked if the best days for employment were in the past or in the future, for the first time since the question was asked in 1998, more respondents said that the best times were ahead than were behind. Given the effects of the GFC, this is an interesting and unexpected finding, and suggests that in spite of the economic recession, there remains considerable public optimism about the resilience of the economy,” Professor McAllister said.

Dr Lindy Edwards, a post-doctoral research fellow at ANU, said the results suggested that Australians understood the sources of the crisis quite differently from their US counterparts and that this had significant political implications for how governments respond. “In the US it is understood as a crisis created by big business. In Australia, we are tending to blame the excessive consumerism and debt of ordinary people for the crisis,” said Dr Edwards.

“Australians were most likely to nominate consumers rather than other actors as being responsible for the crisis — 39% said consumers had to carry ‘a great deal of the blame’, with only 36% and 31% saying the same of large business and banks. This in sharp contrast to Americans who see consumers as least to blame.

“Australians belief that excessive consumerism and debt are to blame for the crisis is likely to be influencing voters attitudes to the cash payments in the stimulus package, and making them more concerned about it.”

The poll found Australians had mixed attitudes to the governments stimulus package.

“Thirty-five percent of Australians say the package improved the economy, but 30% say it is too early to tell and 22% believe it has had no effect.” Dr Edwards said.

However the ANU Poll found much more positive attitudes to the types of spending that government will be doing in the second and third tranches of their stimulus package. When asked if ‘spending on domestic programs like health care, education and housing’ would benefit the economy, 56% said that it would provide ‘a great deal’ of benefit, and a further 28% said ‘some’ benefit.

Almost as many respondents-53%-mentioned ‘spending on infrastructure like roads and public buildings’ as a measure that would contribute ‘a great deal’ to improving the economy. Least favoured for improving the economy is cutting taxes and ‘putting more money in the hands of poor people.’

Every ANU Poll asks Australians to identify the most important problems facing the country, and checks the political mood. The fifth poll, 42% mentioned the economy as the most important problem, a decline from the 52% of the respondents who mentioned the economy in the March 2009 ANU Poll. The environment and global warming were mentioned by 10% of the respondents, a decline of two percentage points, followed by immigration (up 3 points) and health care (up 2 points).

“Despite the preoccupation with the economy and jobs, the political mood remains positive and is virtually unchanged from the March 2009 ANU Poll. A remarkably high 71 percent are satisfied with the way the country is heading, compared to 70 percent in March,” Professor McAllister said.

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Public support for more defence spending is a 20-year low and more than 70% of Australians oppose tax increases to pay for more defence spending, according the results of the latest ANU Poll published today in The Canberra Times.

The fourth ANU Poll provides insight into what the Australian public thinks about defence and defence-spending ahead of the expected release of the Government’s Defence White Paper. It found a majority of Australians believe that defence is now stronger than it was ten years ago.

According to Professor Ian McAllister, who leads ANU Poll, two-thirds of Australians would support a son or daughter joining the military, compared to only 51% of US citizens.

“Opinion towards defence and foreign affairs is very responsive to events in the international environment. When there is international conflict and tension, support for defence is high, but it drops during periods of relative peace,” Professor McAllister said.

“At the moment, however, we also have public concern about the economy, so it isn’t surprising to see that while support for defence is high; there is significant antipathy to increased defence spending and increased taxes to cover it.

“There has been little change between 2000 and 2009 in the types of activities the public sees as important for the ADF to carry out, with disaster relief seen as most important followed by defending Australia against a foreign aggressor. Participating in United Nations missions is deemed to be the least important activity.

“Support for the defence link between Australia and the United States equals the peak recorded immediately after 9/11 but Australians are very pessimistic about the chances of success in Afghanistan, perhaps reflecting the public’s experience with the Iraq War. Sixty-nine percent of respondents believe that the United States and its allies are loosing the war. Australian public opinion closely matches public opinion in the US, where a recent CNN survey found that 64% believed the US was loosing the war.”

Every ANU Poll asks Australians to identify the most important problems facing the country, and checks the political mood. The fourth poll has identified a remarkable turnaround in the priorities of public opinion in a relatively short period of time, with the economy now firmly the most important issue. The most third poll published in October 2008 found that economy only just rated ahead of environment, and at the time of the first ANU Poll in March 2008 environment was ranked first.

“Despite the preoccupation with the economy and jobs, the political mood remains positive with a remarkably high 70% saying they are satisfied with where the country is heading, only a slight change from 69% in October 2008,” Professor McAllister said.

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Australians view global warming as the most serious threat to the future well-being of the world and see drought as the most immediate environmental problem for Australia, according to the findings of the third ANU Poll, released today.

However, the poll also shows that fewer are prepared to change their behaviour to protect the environment or to support the government’s Emissions Trading Scheme.

A large majority of Australians consider themselves well informed about climate change and a small majority support the introduction of an Emissions Trading Scheme.

According to Professor Ian McAllister, who leads ANU Poll, despite the scientific complexities and debates surrounding the whole topic of global warming, a large majority of the public — 77 per cent — feel that they understand the issue ‘very well’ or ‘fairly well’.

“Only about one in four feel that they are not well informed,” he said. “When you look at international comparisons, Australians see global warming as a bigger threat to their way of life than does the US public. In a 2008 survey, 40 per cent of US respondents said that global warming posed a ‘serious threat’, compared to 56 per cent of Australians. But levels of support for an emissions trading scheme are similar to the US, with around 54 percent of Australians supporting the scheme and 34 percent opposing it.

“However, when we turned to the issue of nuclear power, Australians are less supportive of it than their US counterparts, a majority of whom support it. Around half of the Australian public opposes the use of nuclear energy. And over the last two decades, public support for nuclear energy has declined, while support for uranium mining has remained relatively stable.”

The poll, which differs from other opinion polls by placing public opinion in a broad policy context and by benchmarking Australia against international opinion, also found that Australians have made more environmental behaviour changes than their counterparts in the United Kingdom.

Professor Ian McAllister said the survey found that the vast majority of Australians have changed their behaviour in small ways to help the environment.

“Only two of the thousand people interviewed for the poll said they didn’t participate in at least one environmental behaviour, such as recycling, conserving water or using energy saving light bulbs. But only 31 percent use public transport. This perhaps isn’t surprising since it is much easier to make small incremental changes,” Professor McAllister said. “Australians have a much higher degree of environmental behaviour that their British counterparts, where according to a 2002 British survey only 58 per cent recycle household rubbish.”

ANU Poll also found that Australians rate the economy and the environment as the two dominant problems facing the country, with the economy slightly ahead. At the time of the first ANU Poll in March 2008, the environment was ranked first, followed by the economy.

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The second ANU Poll has taken the pulse of the Australian public on higher education and political mood and found a generally positive view of universities, and a high — though slightly declining — degree of satisfaction with the way the country is heading.

ANU Poll found Australians rate the economy and the environment as the two dominant problems facing the country, with the economy slightly ahead. At the time of the first ANU Poll in March 2008, the environment was ranked first, followed by the economy. Housing affordability and interest rates have receded somewhat for voters.

ANU Poll finds a strong sentiment amongst Australians that a university degree is a virtual necessity in today’s world. There is a strong sentiment that ability rather cost should determine who receives a university education but concern that access to universities has diminished over the past 10 years.

The poll also found general concern about the reduced level of government funding for universities and a sentiment the decline in funding had gone too far.

ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb AC said the ANU Poll was timely, given the Australian Government’s declaration it would oversee an ‘Education Revolution’ and the current Review of Higher Education. “It’s appropriate and timely that the Australian public — who as taxpayers provide a large chunk of the funding for Australia’s universities — get to voice an opinion on the place and performance of those universities.”

“The main takeaway messages from ANU Poll for the Government as it grapples with the complexities of higher education reform are fairly simple: Australians are concerned about fair and equitable access to our universities; they view university as one important way of improving the job prospects of their kids, but not the only avenue to success; and they believe that the decline in public funding for universities has gone too far.

“But to justify improved funding, we universities have to try something new, and not simply expect more money for more of the same. It is critical to the future of this country that there is equitable access to the best possible education. And we will have achieved that when there are as many disadvantaged students in the ‘best’ courses in the ‘best’ universities as there are in the others.”

The ANU Poll, led by Professor Ian McAllister from the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, differs from other opinion polls by placing public opinion in a broad policy context, and by benchmarking Australia against international opinion.

For further information: Jane O’Dwyer 02 6125 5001 or 0416 249 231

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While Bill Clinton might have reminded people ‘it’s the economy, stupid’ in his 1992 presidential campaign, Australians believe that the environment is the most important issue facing Australia now and in five years time, according to the results of the inaugural ANU Poll.

The poll also found that one in three adults believe that the environment is the most important issue that should be discussed at the Australia 2020 Summit this weekend.

“When asked in an open-ended question what are the most important problems facing Australia, 19 percent of the survey respondents mentioned the environment, including global warming and sustainability. The environment also tops the list when people are asked the most important issue facing Australia in 5 years’ time,” said Associate Professor Andrew Leigh, an author of ANU Poll.

“Other issues that are rated as important are the economy, health care, and water management.

“It is clear from these results that the environment has very quickly become a hot issue. As recently as 2004, only 6 percent rated the environment as the most important issue facing the country.

“What is really interesting is that Australians seem to have much greater concern for the environment than the US public, who in a recent poll identified the economy and jobs and the war in Iraq as the biggest problems facing their country. For Americans, the environment did not make the top 5 issues.

Associate Professor Leigh said that despite identifying the environment as the biggest problem facing Australia, the public favoured increased spending on health and education ahead of the environment, with defence, culture and the arts and unemployment benefits as the most unpopular areas of government spending.

“By international standards, Australians are much more positively disposed to high levels of government expenditure, particularly on health, education, the environment and police.

“This may indicate a greater level of trust in government amongst Australians relative to other nations. The public views the government as most effective in handling security and unemployment, and least effective in health care and housing affordability.”

The ANU Poll also tested Australian attitudes to institutions and the political mood of the country. A full analysis of the results is available.

For further information or to arrange interview:
Jane O’Dwyer 0416 249 231
Andrew Leigh 02 6125 1374 / 0431 706 600

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A new survey of public opinion to be launched tomorrow by The Australian National University will make it easier for academics, decision-makers, journalists and poll-watchers to understand Australian political opinion against international attitudes.

The ANU Poll differs from other opinion polls by placing public opinion in a broad policy context, and by benchmarking Australia against international opinion. It also can also reveal trends in opinions over many decades, drawing on the wide range of academic public opinion polls conducted at ANU since the 1960s.

The results of the first ANU Poll will be released tomorrow at the launch and identify what issues and challenges Australians think are important in the lead up to the Australia 2020 Summit.

What: Launch of the ANU Poll
When: 12.30 pm, Wednesday 16 April
Where: Committee Room 2S3, Parliament House Canberra

For further information: Jane O’Dwyer 02 6125 5001 or 0416 249 231