Australians are evenly divided over Tony Abbott or Bill Shorten as PM – both leaders unpopular

Neither Federal Leader has positive ‘job’ approval and Prime Minister Tony Abbott 42% (down 2% since April 2015) is virtually level with ALP Leader Bill Shorten 41% (up 2%) as the ‘Better PM’ according to a special telephone Morgan Poll conducted over the last three nights of July 20-22, 2015.

Job Performance – Approve/Disapprove

An increasing majority of electors 59% (up 6%) disapprove of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s handling of his job as Prime Minister while only 34% (down 2%) approve and 7% (down 4%) can’t say.

Australian electors have a similarly disappointing view of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s handling of his job as Opposition Leader. A clear majority of 60% (up a large 12%) disapprove, only a record low 24% (down 10%) approve and more than twice as many as for Abbott, 16% (down 2%), still can’t say how they view the Opposition Leader after nearly two years in the job.

Analysis by Gender

Analysis by gender shows men clearly in support of Abbott as ‘Better PM’ with Abbott 47% (down 3%) cf. Shorten 38% (up 1%) while women clearly favour Shorten 43% (up 1%) over Abbott 36% (down 3%).

When judging Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s handling of the job as Prime Minister, a majority of men 54% (up 3%) disapprove while only 37% (down 3%) approve. However, far more women disapprove 65% (up 11%) than approve 31% (down 2%) of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s handling of the job as Prime Minister.

For Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s handling of the job as Opposition Leader: well over half of all men 64% (up a large 13%) disapprove of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s handling of the job while only 21% (down 14%) approve. There is also rising dissatisfaction with Shorten amongst women: 57% (up 12%) disapprove cf. 27% (down 7%) approve.

Gary Morgan says:

“This week’s special telephone Morgan Poll shows Australian electors can hardly split Prime Minister Tony Abbott 42% (down 2% since April 2015) cf. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten 41% (up 2%) as ‘Better PM’. However, Australian electors are united in strongly disapproving of how both leaders are handling their jobs.

“A growing majority of Australian electors disapprove (59%, up 6%) of Abbott’s handling of the job as Prime Minister compared to only 34% (down 2%) that approve. However, the numbers aren’t any better for Shorten with 60% (up 12%) of electors disapproving of Shorten’s handling of the job as Opposition Leader and a record low 24% (down 10%) approving.

“Another special telephone Morgan Poll conducted concurrently this week shows neither leader is the preferred leader of their respective parties: Abbott (13%) trails both Malcolm Turnbull (44%) and Julie Bishop (15%) as preferred Liberal Party Leader while Shorten (12%) trails both Tanya Plibersek (26%) and Albanese (19%) as preferred ALP Leader.”

This special telephone Morgan Poll was conducted over three nights this week, July 20-22, 2015, with an Australia-wide cross section of 587 electors.

Visit the Roy Morgan Online Store to browse our Voter Profiles by electorate, detailed Voting Intention Demographics Reports and Most important Political Issue Reports (all 150 electorates ranked by an issue).

Better Prime Minister: Abbott v Shorten

Electors were asked: “Thinking of Mr. Tony Abbott and Mr. Bill Shorten. In your opinion, who would make the better Prime Minister – Mr. Abbott or Mr. Shorten?”

Approval of Leaders – Tony Abbott v Bill Shorten

Prime Minister: Tony Abbott

Electors were asked: “Do you APPROVE or DISAPPROVE of the way Mr. Abbott is handling his job as Prime Minister?”

Opposition Leader: Bill Shorten

Electors were asked: “Do you APPROVE or DISAPPROVE of the way Mr. Shorten is handling his job as Leader of the Opposition?”

For further information:

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.