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

Roy Morgan OZ Panel Login  |  Mail Diary Panel Login |   careers |  contact-us |

Australians believe the most important problems facing Australia and the World are Economic and Financial issues according to the latest Roy Morgan Research conducted in mid July 2011.

Australian views on Problems facing Australia

When asked about the most important problem facing Australia, Economic & Financial issues are mentioned by 37% (up 5% since June 2011) including the Carbon Tax 12%, (up 7%) (Disapprove — 10% cf. Approve — 2%), the Economy, Economic problems & Interest Rates (9%, up 1%) and Cost of Living issues & Inflation (4%, down 2%).

A group of issues labelled ‘Government, Politics, Immigration & Human Rights issues’ are named by 29% (up 3%) of Australians. Within that group a high 16% (up 7%) mentioned issues about the Government, the political system, political leadership and Julia Gillard; 5% (down 4%) mentioned Refugees and asylum seekers; and 3% (down 2%) immigration policies.

Environmental issues are mentioned by 25% (up 4%) as the most important problem facing Australia — the most important Environmental Issue is the Carbon Tax 12% (up 7%) (Disapprove — 10% cf. Approve — 2%) almost equal to all other Environmental issues combined including Climate Change/ Global warming (8%, down 2%), Other Environmental issues (2%, unchanged), Pollution/ Rubbish (1%, up 1%) and Water conservation (1%, unchanged) and several smaller issues.

Australian views on Problems facing the World

The biggest World problems are Economic & Financial issues (35%, up 5% since June 2011), but remain well below the peak of 51% reached over two years ago in May 2009. Within the broad group of Economic issues the Economy, Economic problems, Interest rates (16%, up 7%) is ahead of Poverty & the gap between the rich and poor (8%, down 1%), Over-population (4%, down 1%) and Financial problems/ Money issues (3%, up 1%) as the most important Economic issues.

Environmental issues (mentioned by 32% of Australians, unchanged since June 2011) are the next biggest problem facing the World today — clearly the most important issue is still Climate Change/ Global warming (18%, down 5%) followed by Famine/ Food shortages (5%, up 2%).

Some 9% (down 5%) consider Terrorism, Wars, Security & Safety to be the biggest problem facing the World.

Michele Levine says:

“This latest Roy Morgan Issues Research shows that Government, political system, leadership and Julia Gillard (16%, up 7% since June 2011) and the Carbon Tax (12%, up 7%) have become the most important issues facing Australia over the past month. Overall Economic & Financial issues (Including the Carbon Tax) are now clearly the most important set of problems facing Australia — now at 37% (up 5%) — the highest since May 2009.

“Prior to the signing of the so-called ‘Malaysian Solution’ this week falling in importance over the past month are most notably the related issues of Refugees and Asylum problems (5%, down 4%) and Immigration/ Immigration policy (3%, down 2%) — at a combined 8% this is the lowest these issues have been since the Global Financial Crisis in early 2009. This result will encourage the Government that the ‘Malaysian Solution’ signed this week by Immigration Minister Chris Bowen may provide the resolution to the tricky issue of ‘boat people’ the Gillard Government has been looking for.

“Looking at the most important problems facing the World Economic & Financial issues (35%, up 5%) has risen strongly over the past month — driven mainly by a strong increase in those mentioning The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates (16%, up 7%). Environmental issues (32%, unchanged) are still seen as a huge issue for the world, despite a drop in those mentioning Climate Change/ Global warming (18%, down 5%). Terrorism/ Wars/Security/ Safety (9%, down 5%) has dropped to its lowest since February 2010 — as the conflict in Libya has moved away from the front pages of local newspapers.”

These findings come from a special Roy Morgan survey conducted in Australia on attitudes towards issues facing Australia and the World in the future.

In Australia, a cross-section of 1,262 men and women aged 14 or over were interviewed by telephone on July 13/14, 2011. Respondents were asked: “Firstly, what do you think is the most important problem facing the World today?” and “What do you think is the most important problem facing Australia today?”

The research conducted was both qualitative (in that people were asked to use their own words) and quantitative (in that the ‘open-ended’ responses were analysed and ‘coded’ so that the results could be counted and reported as percentages).

Respondents were asked: “Firstly, what do you think is the most important problem facing the World today?” and “What do you think is the most important problem facing Australia today?”

Most Important Problem Facing the World	The World
	Nov 2005	April 2006	May 2008	Nov 2008	May 2009	Nov 2009	Feb 2010	June 2010	Sept 2010	Dec 2010	Feb 2011	Mar 2011	June 2011	July 2011
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates	3	1	8	26	36	9	15	15	12	13	8	6	9	16
Financial problems/ Money issues	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	2	3
Cost of living issues/ Rising prices/ Inflation	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	4	2	2
Banks/ Bank interest rates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*
Housing affordability	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*
Taxation — Mining Tax, Resource Tax etc.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	*	*	1	*	*
(Sub Total) Total Financial Issues/ Cost of living	3	1	8	26	36	9	15	16	12	17	11	12	14	22
Poverty, the gap between rich and poor	10	16	11	8	8	13	9	10	13	9	8	9	9	8
Over-population	1	1	3	2	2	4	6	4	7	3	5	5	5	4
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1
Unemployment	*	*	1	1	4	2	2	1	2	3	1	2	1	1
Farming/ Cut food imports and support our farmers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	*
Foreign ownership & investment/ Selling our assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	*	*	*
Globalisation/Fairer world trade	1	1	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	*	1	*	*	*
Homelessness/ Lack of housing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	1	*	*
General Infrastructure/ Energy, Water, Internet etc.	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	-
Industrial relations reforms	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Transport/ Transport infrastructure/ Road & rail	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-
Total Economic/ Financial issues (Including Carbon Tax)	16	19	24	37	51	29	32	32	33	32	25	29	30	35
Climate Change/ Global warming	4	5	18	14	12	19	24	17	19	17	17	16	23	18
Famine/ Food shortages	-	2	4	4	2	4	3	2	4	3	3	4	3	5
Other Environmental issues	7	6	10	8	7	4	7	8	6	5	3	4	3	4
Pollution/ Rubbish	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	2	2
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1
Natural disasters — Floods, Earthquakes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	5	3	1	1
Drought	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*	-	-	-	-	-	*
Water conservation	1	1	3	*	*	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	*	*
Total Environmental Issues (EXCLUDING Carbon Tax)	12	14	35	26	21	29	36	30	29	26	28	29	31	30
Total Environmental Issues (INCLUDING Carbon Tax)	12	14	35	26	21	29	36	30	29	26	28	29	32	32
Wars and conflicts	6	11	10	6	5	12	6	8	7	8	10	11	9	5
Terrorism	46	20	4	2	2	6	2	4	4	4	3	2	3	2
World Peace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	1	1
Relations with other countries	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	-	*	*	*
Security, Safety	-	1	-	1	*	*	1	*	1	1	*	1	1	*
Total Terrorism/Wars/Security/Safety	52	32	14	9	7	18	9	12	12	15	15	16	14	9
Government, Political system & leadership, Julia Gillard	1	2	1	1	3	2	1	1	1	3	3	2	2	4
Refugees and Asylum problems	-	-	-	-	*	3	1	1	1	1	*	1	1	1
Religion, Religious fundamentalism	2	5	1	3	1	3	1	2	2	1	3	2	1	1
Aboriginal Issues/ Health/ Rights	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*
Human rights	*	*	1	*	-	1	*	*	*	1	*	*	*	*
Immigration/ Immigration policy	-	1	-	*	1	1	1	*	1	*	1	*	1	*
Intolerance/Discrimination	1	3	1	1	1	*	1	*	*	*	1	1	*	*
Multiculturalism/ Integration/ Assimilation	-	*	-	*	1	*	*	*	*	*	1	1	*	*
Racism/Racial tensions	-	2	-	*	*	-	1	1	*	*	1	*	*	*
Total Government/ Politics/ Immigration/ Human Rights	4	13	4	6	6	9	5	5	5	6	10	7	6	8
Greed/ Materialism	1	3	1	3	3	2	3	2	1	2	3	2	2	3
Social apathy/Family breakdowns/ Selfishness/Moral decline	-	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	2
Anger/Violence/Aggression	-	1	-	1	1	1	*	1	1	*	2	1	1	1
Crime/ Law & Order	*	1	1	*	-	-	1	1	1	-	1	1	1	1
Corruption	*	*	1	*	*	1	*	*	*	*	-	1	1	*
Drugs and drug abuse	*	2	1	1	*	*	1	1	*	1	*	1	*	*
Educational issues	*	1	1	1	*	1	*	1	1	1	1	*	*	*
Youth issues (Homelessness/ Apathy etc.)	-	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	*	-	*	*
Total Social Issues	3	11	10	9	6	7	7	8	9	7	8	6	6	8
Energy crisis	-	1	2	*	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Sustainable management of natural resources	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1	*	1
Depletion of fossil fuels	-	*	1	*	*	1	*	1	*	*	*	1	*	*
Petrol prices	-	*	2	1	*	*	-	*	*	-	*	*	*	-
Total Energy Crisis/ Petrol Price/ Depletion of Fossil Fuels	-	1	5	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	1	2
Other health issues	1	1	1	1	1	*	2	1	3	2	2	2	2	1
Hospitals	1	3	1	*	1	2	1	1	-	1	*	*	1	*
Total Health Issues	2	4	2	1	2	2	3	2	3	3	2	2	3	1
Ties to the USA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	-
Other	-	3	4	6	4	2	2	4	2	4	4	4	4	2
Can’t say	-	3	2	4	3	2	5	4	5	5	5	6	4	5
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

*Less than 1%.

Most Important Problem Facing Australia	Australia
	Nov 2005	April 2006	May 2008	Nov 2008	May 2009	Nov 2009	Feb 2010	June 2010	Sept 2010	Dec 2010	Feb 2011	Mar 2011	June 2011	July 2011
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates	6	2	18	24	35	14	14	12	11	8	5	6	8	9
Cost of living issues/ Rising prices/ Inflation	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	2	5	6	4
Financial problems/ Money issues	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	1	1	2
Taxation — Mining Tax, Resource Tax etc.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	*	1	2	2	1	1
Banks/ Bank interest rates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	*	1	*
Housing affordability	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	*	1	1	*
(Sub Total) Total Financial Issues/ Cost of living	6	2	18	24	35	14	14	17	11	14	11	15	15	15
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	2
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	4	10
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	5	12
Poverty, the gap between rich and poor	4	4	3	2	2	4	4	2	2	2	3	1	2	2
Unemployment	*	5	1	2	11	8	6	4	4	3	2	3	3	2
Foreign ownership & investment/ Selling our assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	2	1
Homelessness/ Lack of housing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	1	1
Over-population	1	*	1	1	1	3	3	2	3	1	2	2	2	1
Transport/ Transport infrastructure/ Road & rail	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	*	1	1
Farming/ Cut food imports and support our farmers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	*
General Infrastructure/ Energy, Water, Internet etc.	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	*	*	*
Globalisation/Fairer world trade	1	2	-	*	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	-	*
Industrial relations reforms	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	-	-
Total Economic/ Financial issues (Including Carbon Tax)	14	20	23	30	51	31	29	28	24	28	24	27	32	37
Government, Political system & leadership, Julia Gillard	9	8	3	5	6	5	4	8	11	8	9	7	9	16
Refugees and Asylum problems	1	2	-	-	1	7	3	6	7	5	8	6	9	5
Immigration/ Immigration policy	1	5	3	3	2	6	6	6	4	4	6	4	5	3
Aboriginal Issues/ Health/ Rights	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	*	1	1	1	1	1
Multiculturalism/ Integration/ Assimilation	-	2	2	2	*	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	1	1
Racism/Racial tensions	-	2	2	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Religion, Religious fundamentalism	1	2	-	-	*	*	*	1	1	1	-	*	*	1
Human rights	1	1	-	-	*	*	-	*	*	1	-	1	-	*
Intolerance/Discrimination	*	3	1	*	*	-	*	*	1	*	*	*	-	-
Total Government/ Politics/ Immigration/ Human Rights	13	25	11	11	12	21	16	23	26	21	28	22	26	29
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	2
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	4	10
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	5	12
Climate Change/ Global warming	2	1	7	11	5	13	11	8	9	9	8	9	10	8
Other Environmental issues	4	4	6	5	2	3	3	4	4	3	3	2	2	2
Pollution/ Rubbish	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	*	*	*	1
Water conservation	8	3	13	7	4	5	7	4	5	5	2	3	1	1
Drought	-	-	4	2	6	3	3	1	1	1	-	*	1	*
Famine/ Food shortages	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*	*	1	*	*
Natural disasters — Floods, Earthquakes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	11	7	1	*
Total Environmental Issues (EXCLUDING Carbon Tax)	15	8	30	25	17	24	25	17	20	20	25	22	16	13
Total Environmental Issues (INCLUDING Carbon Tax)	15	8	30	25	17	24	25	17	20	20	25	24	21	25
Social apathy/Family breakdowns/ Selfishness/Moral decline	-	3	3	2	1	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	2
Crime/ Law & Order	*	2	1	1	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Educational issues	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	1	2	3	2	2	2	1
Greed/ Materialism	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	1
Youth issues (Homelessness/ Apathy etc.)	-	2	2	2	*	2	1	1	1	1	1	-	1	1
Anger/Violence/Aggression	-	*	-	-	1	*	2	1	1	1	*	1	1	*
Drugs and drug abuse	1	2	2	3	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	1	1	*
Corruption	*	*	-	-	*	*	*	*	*	*	-	-	*	-
Total Social Issues	4	11	11	11	6	9	10	7	10	8	7	6	6	6
Other health issues	4	4	2	1	*	*	2	2	7	5	4	4	3	3
Hospitals	3	5	2	2	2	2	4	4	-	1	1	1	*	1
Total Health Issues	7	9	4	3	2	2	6	6	7	6	5	5	3	3
Wars and conflicts	2	2	2	*	-	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	1	1
Relations with other countries	-	3	-	*	-	*	*	*	1	1	-	*	*	*
Security, Safety	-	1	-	*	*	-	1	1	1	1	*	-	1	*
Terrorism	19	6	1	*	1	1	*	1	*	*	-	-	1	*
World Peace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	-
Total Terrorism/Wars/Security/Safety	21	12	3	1	1	3	2	2	4	4	1	*	3	2
Energy crisis	-	*	1	*	-	1	*	1	1	1	*	-	1	1
Sustainable management of natural resources	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1
Depletion of fossil fuels	-	*	1	-	1	*	*	*	-	*	-	*	*	*
Petrol prices	-	1	2	1	1	-	*	*	-	-	-	*	*	*
Total Energy Crisis/ Petrol Price/ Depletion of Fossil Fuels	-	1	4	1	1	1	*	1	1	2	1	1	2	2
Ties to the USA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	-	*	-
Other	-	8	9	10	4	5	6	7	3	3	2	10	6	2
Can’t say	-	6	5	8	4	5	7	7	5	8	7	7	7	6
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

*Less than 1%.

For further information:

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

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

© 2012 Roy Morgan Research. All Rights Reserved
privacy-statement