D0136: Age Poll, September, 1977
POLLING ORGANISATION Irving Saulwick and Associates SURVEY METHOD The sampled population consisted of persons aged 18 years and over who were enrolled to vote from all federal electorates throughout Australia, excluding the Northern Territory. Approximately 2,000 interviews were usually conducted. A number of starting points, proportional to the number of electors, was chosen in each Federal electorate. Beginning at the dwelling adjacent to that starting point the interviewer approached each dwelling until a contact was made and an interview completed. The next three adjacent dwellings were skipped and approaches were then made to each dwelling until a second interview was obtained and so on until a cluster size of 4 interviews were completed. The interviewee was selected by taking that person whose birthday was nearest to the date of interview, aged 18 years or more and enrolled to vote and at home. Equal numbers of interviews with males and females within a pair of clusters and an age quota were imposed in each sample locality. This poll is based on 2,083 interviews conducted in September 1977. BACKGROUND VARIABLES country of birth / religion / tenure / self assessment of social class/ number of persons living in dwelling/ home ownership/ occupation of head of household / age / sex / marital status / highest level of education / occupation / income / church attendance/ vote at last federal election/ present voting intention/ WEIGHTING The responses are unweighted. THEMES - NAMES AND RESPONSES 1a. THERE IS MUCH TALK ABOUT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA - WOULD YOU SAY THAT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA TODAY ARE - ? Category label Code Count Percent VERY GOOD 1 31 1.5 GOOD 2 216 10.4 FAIR 3 951 45.7 POOR 4 585 28.1 VERY POOR 5 280 13.4 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 6 20 1.0 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 1b. AND IN SIX MONTHS TIME, DO YOU FEEL THEY WILL BE - ? Category label Code Count Percent VERY GOOD 1 54 2.6 GOOD 2 353 16.9 FAIR 3 673 32.3 POOR 4 516 24.8 VERY POOR 5 393 18.9 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 6 94 4.5 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 2. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT HAS STATED THAT INFLATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FACING THE COMMUNITY. SOME OTHERS SAY UNEMPLOYMENT IS A MORE IMPORTANT ISSUE. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS COMES CLOSEST TO YOUR OPINION? (1) THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD FIGHT INFLATION EVEN IF IT MEANS AN INCREASE IN UNEMPLOYMENT (2) THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD FIGHT INFLATION BUT ONLY IF UNEMPLOYMENT IS NOT INCREASED AS A RESULT (3) THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD FIGHT UNEMPLOYMENT EVEN IF IT MEANS AN INCREASE IN INFLATION Category label Code Count Percent FIGHT INFLATION 1 490 23.5 NO INCR.UNEMP 2 1050 50.4 FIGHT UNEMP 3 498 23.9 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 4 45 2.2 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 3. TALKING ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS ECONOMIC PROGRAM: WHICH OF THESE STATEMENTS COMES CLOSEST TO YOUR OPINION? (1) THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO CLEAR ECONOMIC PROGRAM (2) THE GOVERNMENT IS DEALING WITH ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AS THEY ARISE AND HANDLING THEM ADEQUATELY (3) THE GOVERNMENT IS DEALING WITH ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AS THEY ARISE BUT HANDLING THEM BADLY (4) THE GOVERNMENT HAS A CLEAR AND GOOD ECONOMIC PROGRAM (5) THE GOVERNMENT HAS A CLEAR BUT BAD ECONOMIC PROGRAM Category label Code Count Percent NO ECONOMIC PROGRAM 1 394 18.9 HANDLING ADEQUATELY 2 589 28.3 HANDLING BADLY 3 693 33.3 GOOD ECON PROGRAM 4 138 6.6 BAD ECON PROGRAM 5 212 10.2 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 6 57 2.7 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 4. AND NOW ON QUITE A DIFFERENT SUBJECT: THE GOVERNMENT HAS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL PERMIT URANIUM TO BE MINED AND EXPORTED. DO YOU PERSONALLY THINK THAT AUSTRALIA AT THE PRESENT TIME - - (1) SHOULD MINE AND EXPORT URANIUM OR (2) SHOULD NOT MINE AND EXPORT URANIUM Category label Code Count Percent SHOULD 1 1090 52.3 SHOULD NOT 2 874 42.0 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 3 119 5.7 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 5. IF A FEDERAL ELECTION FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WAS HELD TOMORROW, FOR WHICH POLITICAL PARTY WOULD YOU PROBABLY VOTE? Category label Code Count Percent AUST. DEM 1 177 8.5 ALP 2 870 41.8 DLP 3 59 2.8 LIBERAL 4 723 34.7 NCP 5 89 4.3 OTHER 6 71 3.4 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 7 94 4.5 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 6a. IF YOU HAD TO GIVE MR FRASER A MARK OUT OF TEN FOR HIS POPULARITY WITH YOU, WHAT MARK WOULD YOU GIVE HIM - YOU CAN GIVE HIM ANY NUMBER BETWEEN ONE AND TEN? 10 MEANS HE IS EXTREMELY POPULAR WITH YOU 1 MEANS HE IS EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR WITH YOU Category label Code Count Percent EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR 1 535 25.7 2 118 5.7 3 127 6.1 4 149 7.2 5 392 18.8 6 169 8.1 7 182 8.7 8 175 8.4 9 42 2.0 EXTREMELY POPULAR 10 151 7.2 DK; NE 12 43 2.1 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 6b. IF YOU HAD TO GIVE MR WHITLAM A MARK OUT OF TEN FOR HIS POPULARITY WITH YOU, WHAT MARK WOULD YOU GIVE HIM - YOU CAN GIVE HIM ANY NUMBER BETWEEN ONE AND TEN? 10 MEANS HE IS EXTREMELY POPULAR WITH YOU 1 MEANS HE IS EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR WITH YOU Category label Code Count Percent EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR 1 522 25.1 2 131 6.3 3 130 6.2 4 145 7.0 5 400 19.2 6 172 8.3 7 131 6.3 8 153 7.3 9 59 2.8 EXTREMELY POPULAR 10 205 9.8 DK; NE 12 35 1.7 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 7. AUSTRALIA AT THE PRESENT TIME HAS A POPULATION OF ABOUT FOURTEEN MILLION PEOPLE. OUR POPULATION IS NOT INCREASING AS FAST AS IT HAS IN THE PAST, PARTLY BECAUSE THE NUMBER OF NEW IMMIGRANTS COMING HERE IS LESS THAN IT WAS. DO YOU THINK THAT OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS WE SHOULD - (1) NOT BE CONCERNED IF AUSTRALIA'S POPULATION GROWTH SLOWS DOWN (2) ENCOURAGE GREATER FLOW OF MIGRANTS TO COME TO AUSTRALIA (3) ENCOURAGE COUPLES TO HAVE LARGER FAMILIES (4) ENCOURAGE BOTH IMMIGRATION AND LARGER FAMILIES (5) DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB Category label Code Count Percent SLOWER GROWTH 1 1050 50.4 MORE MIGRANTS 2 207 9.9 LARGER FAMILIES 3 455 21.8 IMMIG. & LGE FAMIL 4 333 16.0 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 5 38 1.8 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 8. IF MORE MIGRANTS WERE TO BE SOUGHT, WHICH OF THESE SOURCES WOULD BE YOUR FIRST PREFERENCE? AND WHICH NEXT? (Complete rank order 1-7) WHEREVER THEY COME FROM Category label Code Count Percent FIRST CHOICE 1 377 18.1 SECOND CHOICE 2 54 2.6 THIRD CHOICE 3 37 1.8 FOURTH CHOICE 4 59 2.8 FIFTH CHOICE 5 61 2.9 SIXTH CHOICE 6 127 6.1 SEVENTH CHOICE 7 1244 59.7 DK; NE; MISSING 8 124 6.0 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 ASIA Category label Code Count Percent FIRST CHOICE 1 116 5.6 SECOND CHOICE 2 199 9.6 THIRD CHOICE 3 264 12.7 FOURTH CHOICE 4 391 18.8 FIFTH CHOICE 5 411 19.7 SIXTH CHOICE 6 388 18.6 SEVENTH CHOICE 7 103 4.9 DK; NE; MISSING 8 211 10.1 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 BRITAIN Category label Code Count Percent FIRST CHOICE 1 855 41.0 SECOND CHOICE 2 472 22.7 THIRD CHOICE 3 270 13.0 FOURTH CHOICE 4 157 7.5 FIFTH CHOICE 5 93 4.5 SIXTH CHOICE 6 58 2.8 SEVENTH CHOICE 7 33 1.6 DK; NE; MISSING 8 145 7.0 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 MIDDLE EAST Category label Code Count Percent FIRST CHOICE 1 18 .9 SECOND CHOICE 2 48 2.3 THIRD CHOICE 3 111 5.3 FOURTH CHOICE 4 250 12.0 FIFTH CHOICE 5 504 24.2 SIXTH CHOICE 6 682 32.7 SEVENTH CHOICE 7 243 11.7 DK; NE; MISSING 8 227 10.9 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE (GERMANY, HOLLAND ETC.) Category label Code Count Percent FIRST CHOICE 1 519 24.9 SECOND CHOICE 2 722 34.7 THIRD CHOICE 3 375 18.0 FOURTH CHOICE 4 157 7.5 FIFTH CHOICE 5 88 4.2 SIXTH CHOICE 6 45 2.2 SEVENTH CHOICE 7 11 .5 DK; NE; MISSING 8 166 8.0 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 SOUTHERN AFRICA (RHODESIA, SOUTH AFRICA, ETC) Category label Code Count Percent FIRST CHOICE 1 44 2.1 SECOND CHOICE 2 167 8.0 THIRD CHOICE 3 320 15.4 FOURTH CHOICE 4 417 20.0 FIFTH CHOICE 5 412 19.8 SIXTH CHOICE 6 354 17.0 SEVENTH CHOICE 7 149 7.2 DK; NE; MISSING 8 220 10.6 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 SOUTHERN EUROPE (ITALY, GREECE, ETC) Category label Code Count Percent FIRST CHOICE 1 122 5.9 SECOND CHOICE 2 270 13.0 THIRD CHOICE 3 511 24.5 FOURTH CHOICE 4 432 20.7 FIFTH CHOICE 5 287 13.8 SIXTH CHOICE 6 199 9.6 SEVENTH CHOICE 7 68 3.3 DK; NE; MISSING 8 194 9.3 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 9. IF WE WERE TO GIVE PREFERENCE TO PARTICULAR MIGRANTS - - 9a. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING GROUPS WOULD YOU CHOOSE FIRST? (1) PEOPLE WHO HAVE SKILLS WHICH WE NEED (2) PEOPLE WHO ARE LIKE THE MAJORITY OF AUSTRALIANS AND WHO COULD FIT IN EASILY (3) REFUGEES WHO NEED A COUNTRY TO SETTLE IN (4) PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HAVE RELATIONS IN AUSTRALIA Category label Code Count Percent PEOPLE WITH SKILLS 1 1042 50.0 PEOPLE WHO FIT IN 2 540 25.9 REFUGEES 3 246 11.8 W RELATIVES IN AUST 4 241 11.6 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 5 14 .7 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 AND WHICH NEXT? Category label Code Count Percent PEOPLE WITH SKILLS 1 559 26.8 PEOPLE WHO FIT IN 2 702 33.7 REFUGEES 3 320 15.4 W RELATIVES IN AUST 4 460 22.1 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 5 36 1.7 MISSING 6 6 .3 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 WHICH NEXT? Category label Code Count Percent PEOPLE WITH SKILLS 1 299 14.4 PEOPLE WHO FIT IN 2 446 21.4 REFUGEES 3 550 26.4 W RELATIVES IN AUST 4 732 35.1 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 5 50 2.4 MISSING 6 6 .3 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 WHICH LAST? Category label Code Count Percent PEOPLE WITH SKILLS 1 145 7.0 PEOPLE WHO FIT IN 2 347 16.7 REFUGEES 3 890 42.7 W RELATIVES IN AUST 4 581 27.9 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 5 112 5.4 MISSING 6 8 .4 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 10. AND WHICH OF THESE STATEMENTS COMES CLOSEST TO YOUR VIEW? (1) MIGRANTS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO FIT INTO THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (2) MIGRANTS SHOULD BE LEFT TO FIT INTO THE COMMUNITY AT THEIR OWN PACE (3) MIGRANTS SHOULD BE ASSISTED BY GOVERNMENT FUNDS - FOR INSTANCE FUNDS FOR ETHNIC RADIO AND LANGUAGE TEACHING - TO MAINTAIN THEIR CULTURAL TRADITIONS Category label Code Count Percent FIT AS SOON AS POSS 1 1122 53.9 FIT AT OWN PACE 2 302 14.5 MAINTAIN CULT TRADS 3 633 30.4 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 4 26 1.2 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 11. THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF TALK RECENTLY ABOUT MR KERRY PACKER'S PLANS TO STAGE HIS OWN CRICKET SERIES IN AUSTRALIA. YOU MAY KNOW THAT HE HAS SIGNED CONTRACTS WITH A NUMBER OF LEADING WORLD PLAYERS, INCLUDING MANY AUSTRALIAN TEST CRICKETERS. DO YOU THINK THAT MR PACKER'S ACTIONS ARE LIKELY TO - - (1) IMPROVE CRICKET FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC OR (2) DAMAGE CRICKET FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC Category label Code Count Percent IMPROVE 1 1153 55.4 DAMAGE 2 608 29.2 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 3 322 15.5 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 12. DO YOU THINK THAT AUSTRALIAN CRICKETS WHO SIGN CONTRACTS WITH MR PACKER - - (1) SHOULD ALSO BE ELIGIBLE TO REPRESENT AUSTRALIA IN TEST MATCHES OR (2) SHOULD NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO REPRESENT AUSTRALIA IN TEST MATCHES Category label Code Count Percent ELIG TO REPRES AUST 1 1628 78.2 NOT ELIG 2 276 13.3 DON'T KNOW;NOT ESTAB 3 179 8.6 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 13. HOW INTERESTED WOULD YOU SAY YOU ARE IN CRICKET? Category label Code Count Percent VERY 1 585 28.1 SOMEWHAT 2 674 32.4 NOT MUCH 3 456 21.9 NOT AT ALL 4 368 17.7 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 14. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DOES NOT NEED TO CALL AN ELECTION FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UNTIL THE END OF 1978. NEVERTHELESS THERE HAS BEEN SOME TALK RECENTLY ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF AN EARLY FEDERAL ELECTION. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS COMES CLOSEST TO YOUR VIEW? (1) ANY GOVERNMENT WOULD BE SENSIBLE TO CALL AN EARLY ELECTION IF IT THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE TO ITS POLITICAL ADVANTAGE TO DO SO (2) THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BRING THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTIONS BACK INTO LINE BY HOLDING AN ELECTION FOR BOTH AROUND NEXT MAY (3) ELECTORS ARE ENTITLED TO EXPECT A GOVERNMENT TO GOVERN FOR THREE YEARS BEFORE THEY ARE ASKED TO VOTE AGAIN Category label Code Count Percent EARLY ELECTION 1 372 17.9 ELECT NEXT MAY 2 482 23.1 FULL TERM 3 1196 57.4 DON'T KNOW;NO OPIN 4 33 1.6 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 15. IF THE GOVERNMENT DOES SEEK AN EARLY ELECTION, SAY LATE THIS YEAR OR VERY EARLY NEXT YEAR, WOULD YOU EXPECT IT - Category label Code Count Percent TO WIN 1 1033 49.6 TO LOSE 2 916 44.0 DON'T KNOW;NO OPIN 3 134 6.4 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 16. AND IF THE ELECTION WERE NOT HELD UNTIL THE END OF NEXT YEAR, WHICH PARTY WOULD YOU GUESS MIGHT WIN A MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THEN? Category label Code Count Percent LIBERAL-CP 1 911 43.7 ALP 2 934 44.8 OTHER 3 51 2.4 DON'T KNOW;NO OPIN 4 187 9.0 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 17. THE GOVERNMENT HAS RECENTLY PASSED LEGISLATION WHICH WILL ALLOW IT TO SUSPEND OR DISMISS GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES WHO ARE STRIKING AND TO STAND DOWN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES WHO CANNOT WORK AS A RESULT OF A STRIKE. DO YOU YOURSELF - (1) APPROVE OF THIS NEW LEGISLATION OR (2) DISAPPROVE OF THIS NEW LEGISLATION Category label Code Count Percent APPROVE 1 1115 53.5 DISAPPROVE 2 890 42.7 DON'T KNOW;NO OPIN 3 78 3.7 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0 18. THE ARBITRATION COMMISSION HAS BEEN UNDER ATTACK RECENTLY FROM GOVERNMENT MINISTERS WHO HAVE ARGUED THAT THE WAGE INCREASES AWARDED HAVE BEEN TOO LARGE. LOOKING BACK OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, DO YOU THINK THE INCREASES AWARDED BY COMMISSION HAVE BEEN - Category label Code Count Percent TOO LARGE 1 704 33.8 ABOUT RIGHT 2 1003 48.2 TOO SMALL 3 320 15.4 DON'T KNOW;NO OPIN 4 56 2.7 ------- ----- Total responses 2083 100.0
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