Essential poll has Labor with 54-46 lead over Coalition, while 48% disapprove of automated Centrelink debt recovery

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Australian voters disapprove of the automated Centrelink debt recovery system and reject the majority of politicians’ taxpayer-funded expenses, according to a new poll.

The Essential poll of 1,015 people shows Labor with a large 54% to 46% lead in two-party-preferred terms and also records an uptick in support for a range of public institutions. The poll was conducted from Friday to Monday and released on Tuesday.

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The poll found that 48% of voters disapproved of the automated Centrelink debt recovery system, compared with 36% who approved and 16% with no opinion. Respondents were told the system involves “welfare recipients being automatically sent notifications regarding possible overpayments”.

Asked which issue they felt more concerned about, 8% said overpayment to welfare recipients, 46% said politicians’ travel expenses and 40% said both issues concerned them equally.

Asked about parliamentary entitlements, the only ones with majority support were travel for events directly related to politicians’ electoral or parliamentary work (68%) and printing materials for their electorates (54%).

The least popular entitlements were charging taxpayers for social events for networking purposes (18%), travel for politicians’ families to visit them in Canberra or interstate when they are on government business (15%) and for spouses to accompany politicians overseas (13%).

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Compared with when the question was last asked in August 2015, there were big drops in support for free use of a taxpayer-funded car, down from 29% to 22%, and an allowance for nights spent in Canberra regardless of where the MP stays, down from 26% to 19%.

A week before the poll was conducted the Turnbull government announced a new independent parliamentary expenses authority and said it would clarify the rules around travel after a string of expenses scandals that culminated in the resignation of the health minister Sussan Ley.

The poll found trust in many public institutions has increased since September, with the biggest increases for the federal police (up 6%), the high court (up 5%) and state parliaments (up 5%).

The most trusted institutions were the federal police (69%), state police (67%), the high court (62%), the ABC (53%) and the reserve bank (51%).

The high trust levels show that attacks from politicians attempting to capitalise on populist sentiment such as the resources minister, Matt Canavan, who accused the ABC of reporting “fake news” about the Adani mine, and the former senator Rodney Culleton, who claimed the high court was in breach of its own rules, have had little effect.



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People had the least trust in political parties (17%), business groups (27%), trade unions (27%) and religious organisations (28%).

The Essential poll found Labor leading the Coalition on both primary votes (37% to 35%) and in two-party preferred terms (54% to 46%). The Greens were steady on 10%, Nick Xenophon Team on 3% and One Nation increased by one point to 9%.

Most respondents said they saw Australia Day as a day of pride (60%), although some agreed it was a “day of reflection on the impact on Indigenous people” (12%). Although many said they personally did something to celebrate Australia Day (34%), most people viewed it as just another public holiday (46%).

The poll found more people support Australia becoming a republic (44%) than oppose it (30%).