Vote Compass: Australians back restrictions on foreign ownership, CSG

Updated

A clear majority of Australians want greater restrictions on the foreign ownership of agricultural land, according to the latest data from Vote Compass.

Seventy-six per cent of Australians support tighter government controls, and even higher numbers of older voters and people in rural areas are concerned about overseas ownership of farms.

A majority of Australians are against any easing of restrictions on coal seam gas, today's Vote Compass data on rural and mining issues also shows.

Majority back miners paying more tax

A majority of Australians believe mining companies should pay more tax, the Vote Compass figures suggest.

Fifty-nine per cent of respondents support the miners paying more, while just 10 per cent believe they should pay less.

While the Coalition is campaigning on a promise to scrap the mining tax, more than one-third of its supporters believe miners should pay more tax.

Vote Compass respondents were asked: "How much tax should mining companies pay?"

CSG concerns greatest in NSW

New South Wales is by far the state most concerned about coal seam gas, with 61 per cent of Vote Compass respondents in NSW saying restrictions on mining companies should not be relaxed.

While 55 per cent of Australians think CSG miners should not get more leeway, just 23 per cent support the easing of restrictions.

Voters in rural and regional seats are more likely than urban respondents to back tighter restrictions on CSG.

Vote Compass respondents were asked for their view on this statement: "There should be fewer restrictions on coal seam gas exploration."

Australians want controls on foreign ownership of farms

More than 75 per cent of Australians believe the Government should tighten the rules on foreign ownership of Australian farmland, according to Vote Compass.

The issue resonates from the city to the bush and across the political divide, with Greens, Labor and Coalition voters all wanting to see tougher restrictions on overseas buyers.

Vote Compass respondents were asked for their view on this statement: "The Government should further restrict foreign ownership of Australian agricultural land."

NT firmly behind live exports industry

Northern Territorians strongly support live animal exports, with 57 per cent opposed to any ban, reflecting the industry’s importance to the Territory.

The rest of Australia is more divided, with 44 per cent agreeing live exports should be banned, 38 per cent disagreeing and 17 per cent neutral.

Vote Compass respondents were asked for their view on this statement: "Live animal exports should be banned"

Watch: Vote Compass findings on rural affairs, mining

FAQ

What is this?

When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called the federal election for September 7, the ABC immediately launched Vote Compass.

Since then, we have received more than 850,000 responses, as people used the tool to see how their views compare to the parties' policies.

Between now and election day, the ABC will reveal weighted data gathered using the application.

This report explores how people responded to questions on mining and rural affairs.

The data has been weighted by gender, age, education, enrolment as a student, religion, marital status, industry and state using the latest population estimates to be a true representation of opinion at the time of the field, resulting in an effective sample size of 402,186 respondents.

Vote Compass is not a random sample. Why are the results being represented as though it is a poll?

Vote Compass is not a poll. It is primarily and fundamentally an educational tool intended to promote electoral literacy and stimulate public engagement in the policy aspect of election campaigns.

That said, respondents' views as expressed through Vote Compass can add a meaningful dimension to our understanding of public attitudes and an innovative new medium for self-expression. Ensuring that the public has a decipherable voice in the affairs of government is a critical function of a robust democracy.

Online surveys are inherently prone to selection bias but statisticians have long been able to correct for this (given the availability of certain variables) by drawing on population estimates such as Census micro-data.

We apply sophisticated weighting techniques to the data to control for the selection effects of the sample, thus enabling us to make statistical inferences about the Australian population with a high degree of confidence.

The Vote Compass data sample was weighted on the basis of: gender; age; education; students; religion; marital status.

How can you stop people from trying to game the system?

There are multiple safeguards in place to ensure the authenticity of each record in the dataset.

Vote Compass does not make its protocols in this regard public so as not to aid those that might attempt to exploit the system, but among standard safeguards such as IP address logging and cookie tracking, it also uses time codes and a series of other measures to prevent users from gaming the system.

Want to know more?

Try it yourself

Find out where you stand with Vote Compass

Topics: federal-elections, tax, mining-industry, rural, beef-cattle, australia

First posted