Australians don’t share the growing view among commentators across the political spectrum that Newstart benefits are too low, according to today’s Essential Report. And power companies and the media are our least trusted industries.
A third of voters believe Newstart benefits are not high enough, Essential found, but 30% believed they were “about right” and 25% thought they were actually too high.
Unusually for a social policy question, there is less partisan differentiation between respondents than normal. Liberal voters are more likely to take a hard line — 32% think Newstart is too generous — but it is Labor voters who most strongly feel it should be increased — 43% of Labor voters think it isn’t high enough, compared to 41% of Greens voters. And 21% of Greens voters think Newstart is too high, compared to 18% of Labor voters — a result altogether at odds with the Greens stereotype of inner-city lefties.
More broadly, voters much more strongly supported the view that Australia’s welfare system had encouraged a “culture of dependency” and should be “radically changed”, compared to the view that welfare recipients are victims of circumstances beyond their control, that benefits aren’t generous and it is the responsibility of a civilized society to keep them from poverty. The latter view drew support from only 30% of voters, compared to 53% who supported the more hardline approach.
However, that was partly because Liberal voters were such strong adherents of the “culture of dependency” view — 67% of Liberal voters supported that view, and only 20% agreed that welfare wasn’t generous and a requirement of civilized society. Both Labor and Greens voters were more likely to support the latter view. And the results perfectly match income levels, with high-income earners much more likely to take a harder line (which may explain why Greens voters are slightly “harder-hearted” than Labor voters).
The result, however, might suggest why the Government has been so resistant to lifting Newstart (apart from the fiscal impact) and apparently relaxed about being perceived as so hardline on welfare.
Power companies and the media were the two least-trusted industries, Essential found (tomorrow, we’ll have our biannual “trust in media” results). Just 18% of voters had some or a lot of trust in power companies; only 30% had trust in the media, which was below mining (32%) and banking (33%). Agriculture, perhaps because of perceptions of a life of honest toil outdoors, is the most trusted industry, with 72% of voters having some or a lot of trust; tourism was next, on 68%, then manufacturing (56%). Forty one per cent of voters had “no trust at all” in power companies; 29% had “no trust at all” in banking.
We’re also a nation of happy workers, seemingly. Just over 70% of voters said they were satisfied with their current job, with not too much variation across income levels or age, although 77% of women were satisfied compared to 67% of men. Most people were content to either remain in their current job (40%) or take a job elsewhere in the same profession (18%), with men more likely to want a change of occupation, and 18-34 year olds as well.
On voting intention, little change from last week: Labor is on 36% and the Coalition on 48%; the Greens have picked up a point to 9%, for a 2PP outcome of 54-46% in the Coalition’s favour.
So the propaganda campaign to demonise “dole bludgers” has succeeded. So now the powers-that-be should turn their attention to medicare bludgers and public hospital bludgers and state high school bludgers. We could become just like the USA, where the most disdavantaged have been convinced to vote against their own best interests. Wouldn;t that be wonderful?
Howard & Abbotts legacy.
Last night I had a mate come down for a beer. He told me of his marital problems of his wife trying to kick him out of the family home for no reason.
Other than the fact that with him not there she would able to get more money from social security due to then being a single mum with 3 kids.
She has a single friend with kids too who receives more than her & she is jealous of her friends ability to go out on the town more often than she can.
How many other families have been split up for the very same reason? money over marriage. Scandalous!!!
And how many years has it been since Fraser said that life wasn’t meant to be easy? Babies born that year may have completed educations, jobs and children of their own now. As long as stories of doing it tough by the poor are seen as special pleading (as opposed to those having trouble meeting the mortgage on the holiday house and private school fees who too often feature in the press), some of the hard facts of inflexible work conditions, few well paid jobs and the complexities of raising a child or children while working and getting further training or education will be under-rated.
Even the best budgeter living on benefits struggles if an appliance breaks down or someone is seriously ill. If she or he is in the private rental market, would be even worse.
Then there is the constant reporting to Centrelink.
Yikes!
Some voters think that Newstart is too high? Australia is a very rich country but by golly, we’re a mean,lousy bunch.
I guess that these people won’t be satisfied until our cities resemble Calcutta,although at night, in certain parts of Melbourne and Sydney, they already look it.
Good comment Scott, sadly the culture creators at channel 7 etc win again. Doesn’t say anything for our education system.