Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/89103

Title

The public opinion gap: asylum seekers and the election

Author(s)

Browne, Peter

Abstract

Six weeks ago, on May 27, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced that the Coalition would revive the Pacific Solution and reintroduce temporary protection visas if it wins this year's federal election. His plan dramatically sharpened the differences between the Government and Opposition on an issue that most commentators believe to be a major source of worry for many voters. Over the next couple of weeks, Abbott and his advisers no doubt turned eagerly to the polls for confirmation that the tactic had worked. Averaged, the six polls conducted by four pollsters gave the Coalition 49 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote---a 1 per cent fall in support. Given the margin of error in all polls of this kind, that's a negligible movement, but it was in exactly the wrong direction for the Coalition. Abbott's standing had fallen in both of the polls that regularly ask voters to rate party leaders. What the polls over the past two months have shown very clearly is that when people say they favour tougher asylum-seeker policies, or when they express approval of announcements like Abbott's on May 27, that attitude doesn't appear to be translating into how they will vote.

Publication type

Newspaper article

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences. Institute for Social Research

Source

Canberra Times, 15 July 2010, p. 19

Publication year

2010

Keyword(s)

Asylum seekers;  Australian Government;  Federal elections;  Gillard, Julia (1961-);  Government policy;  Immigration;  Opinion polls;  Protection visas;  Refugees

Publisher

Fairfax

Publisher URL

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/

Copyright

Copyright © 2010 Peter Browne.