Home |  site-map |  indonesia |  indonesian-single-source-articles |  asteroid-user-registration |

Mail Diary Panel Login |   careers |  contact-us |

 Search:  Entire Site Polls Press Releases  

A special telephone Roy Morgan survey conducted exclusively for the Australian Workers’ Union over two nights (March 11/12) finds:

• More Australians (47%) would prefer the $31 billion in tax cuts that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised during the 2007 election campaign to be divided between tax cuts and superannuation funds than those who would like Mr Rudd to fulfil his election pledge of full tax cuts (36%).  A large 17% can’t say which option they would prefer;
• A majority of employed Australians (51%) would prefer the promised tax cuts to be divided between tax cuts and superannuation funds, compared to one-third (33%) who want the full tax cuts, with 16% undecided;
• Unemployed Australians are divided on which option they prefer: 39% say they would like a combination of tax cuts and superannuation contributions, while 41% want the full tax cuts;
• ALP supporters are more likely than their Coalition counterparts (58% cf. 41%) to support the idea of a mixture of tax cuts and superannuation contributions. Almost half (47%) of L-NP supporters would prefer the full tax cuts compared to 27% of Labor supporters;
• Similarly, union members are more likely than non-union members (64% cf. 44%) to support the idea of a mixture of tax cuts and superannuation contributions.  Only a quarter (27%) of union members would prefer the full tax cuts compared to 37% of non-union members;
• There is differing opinion between those earning $50,000 or more and those earning less than $50,000.  Fifty-three per cent of those earning $50,000 or more say they would like a combination of tax cuts and superannuation contributions compared to only 44% of those earning less than $50,000.  Thirty four per cent of those earning $50,000 or more would prefer the tax cuts in full as do 37% of those earning less than $50,000.

Gary Morgan says:

“This special Roy Morgan survey finds that more Australians, given the choice, would prefer a combination of superannuation contributions and tax cuts as opposed to full tax cuts. 

“The starkest contrast in opinion was between union members (Tax cuts & Super 64%, Tax cuts only 27%) and non-union members (Tax cuts & Super 44%, Tax cuts only 37%), and Labor (Tax cuts & Super 58%, Tax cuts only 27%)  and Coalition (Tax cuts & Super 41%, Tax cuts only 47%) supporters.

“Those in favour of Tax Cuts and Super were concerned about inflation and the strength of the economy and felt it was better if people had less disposable income.

“Politically Kevin Rudd will need to use all his skills of persuasion as those who are in favour of Tax Cuts are strongly of the view that ‘A promise is a promise’ and ‘Election promises should be kept’.”

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. The following table gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. The figures are approximate and for general guidance only, and assume a simple random sample. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

Sample Size	Percentage Estimate
	40%-60%	25% or 75%	10% or 90%	5% or 95%
500	±4.5	±3.9	±2.7	±1.9
1,000	±3.2	±2.7	±1.9	±1.4

Tax Cuts or Superannuation Contributions?

Respondents were told: “During the election campaign Kevin Rudd promised $31 billion dollars worth of personal income tax cuts over five years.  Given concerns about inflation, it has been suggested that half the amount be given in tax cuts and the other half in contributions to taxpayers’ superannuation funds.

Respondents were then asked: “Do you agree with this suggestion or do you believe taxpayers should get the full tax cuts?”

	Australians 14+	Analysis by Sex and Age
	Mar 11/12, 2008	Men	Women	14-17#	18-24	25-34	35-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Agree, half tax cuts & half superannuation	47	48	47	26	35	48	58	53	38
No, full tax cuts	36	37	35	29	41	36	31	37	40
Can’t say	17	15	18	45	24	16	11	10	22
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

	Australian Electors	Analysis by Federal Voting Intention
	Mar 11/12, 2008	ALP	L-NP	Greens#	Family First#	Ind. / Other#	Can’t say / Refused#	Non- Electors
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Agree, half tax cuts & half superannuation	50	58	41	50	49	49	36	29
No, full tax cuts	35	27	47	29	35	35	45	38
Can’t say	15	15	12	21	16	16	19	33
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

	Australians 14+	Analysis by Employment Type & Union Membership
	Mar 11/12, 2008	Full Time	Part Time	Total  Employed	Not Employed	Union Member	Non-union Member	Union Household	Non-Union Household
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Agree, half tax cuts &  half superannuation	47	51	52	51	39	64	44	62	43
No, full tax cuts	36	36	27	33	41	27	37	26	39
Can’t say	17	13	21	16	20	9	19	12	18
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

	Australians 14+	Analysis by Personal Income
	Mar 11/12, 2008	Less than $50,000	$50,000 or more	Wouldn’t say
	%	%	%	%
Agree, half tax cuts &  half superannuation	47	44	53	42
No, full tax cuts	36	37	34	34
Can’t say	17	19	13	24
Total	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

	Australians 14+	Analysis by Personal Income
	Mar 11/12, 2008	Less than $10,000	$10,000 to $19,999	$20,000 to $34,999	$35,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $79,999	$80,000 to $99,999#	$100,000 or more#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Agree, half tax cuts &  half superannuation	47	40	40	49	56	51	55	53
No, full tax cuts	36	34	39	31	36	35	33	35
Can’t say	17	26	21	20	8	14	12	12
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

Special Roy Morgan Qualitative Research Shows:

A recurring theme among respondents who agreed with the “half tax cuts/half superannuation contributions” alternative were concerns about inflation, the strength of the economy and people would have less disposable income:

“People don’t have as much disposable income. It’s better to have it in superannuation.”

“More concerned with inflation.”

“People don’t need tax cuts, they need cuts in food prices and petrol prices.”

“Because the economy is running a bit too strong.”

“I think because inflation is high, we should be given some sort of help.”

“Because I am closer to retirement age and economically it makes more sense. The superannuation will be more beneficial than a tax cut.”

“Not enough people voluntarily put money into super.”

“Most people don’t plan for the future and it’ll cost the Government more in the long run.”

“People will just spend the money if they have it now but if it’s put in their super, the super companies control them.”

Participants who said Kevin Rudd should deliver on his election pledge of tax cuts cited broken promises as a top concern:

“A promise is a promise.”

“Election promises should be kept.”

“They (Labor) should do what they say.”

“Tax cuts. That’s what he promised.”

“That’s what he promised at the beginning and at the time of the promise would’ve had full understanding of the economical situation.”

“It was what we were promised.”

“People deserve the full tax cut.”

Another recurring theme among participants who wanted full tax cuts was concern over their present financial situation:

“It’s more important to have the money at this stage.”

“Not everybody can contribute to super in certain ways — it’s only one form of investment.”

“We pay for it (taxes) in the first place so we should be getting the tax cuts.”

“Everyone is struggling at the moment and it may help everyone with the high interest rates. Tax payers could use it now.”

“If it goes to the super it would take another 30 years for me to get the super and we don’t know what the government regulations would be like in 30 years time.  If I get the money now it would benefit me in the coming years.”

This special telephone Roy Morgan survey was conducted over March 11/12, 2008, with an Australia-wide cross-section of 691 respondents aged 14+.

For further information:

Michele Levine:    Office +61 3 9224 5215   Mobile +61 411 129 093

 

Gary Morgan:        Office +61 3 9224 5213   Mobile +61 411 129 094

The Roy Morgan Research Centre conducts the Morgan Poll in Australia and New Zealand and is the Gallup International Association Member.

No other public opinion poll taken in Australia or New Zealand has this qualification.

© 2007 Roy Morgan Research. All Rights Reserved
privacy-statement