Donations are a bigger influence on Australian politics than polls and the major parties have a history of ignoring mainstream voter opinion, social researcher Rebecca Huntley says.

Dr Huntley’s forthcoming Quarterly Essay, Australia Fair, argues that polls are often used as a short-term weapon by political rivals but do not truly influence policy and politics.

“If only research was as influential as donations!” she told The Sun-Herald.

Social researcher Rebecca Huntley has argued the centre of Australian public opinion is progressive in a Quarterly Essay to be published on March 18. Credit:Louise Kennerley

"It doesn't matter how many times you show a political party that not only your constituents believe something but the swinging voters do too, the ideology of the party, who is in the parliament and more importantly who pays money to political parties overwhelms what the information might be telling them.”