Guardian Essential poll: Scott Morrison approval drops six points during latest Covid lockdowns
Voter approval of Scott Morrison has dropped six points in a month, as support for the federal government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic dipped, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
The latest survey of 1,099 voters – in the field as major Australian cities went into lockdown to suppress new coronavirus infections – suggests voters lost confidence in the prime minister during this outbreak.
Voter approval of Morrison slipped from 57% to 51% and disapproval also climbed by four points from 36% to 40% as premiers and health ministers expressed their frustration about the pace of the vaccination rollout in public, and Queensland led the charge against giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 40.
Approval of the federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, went from 39% to 41% – which is a positive movement inside the poll’s margin of error. Morrison also slipped two points on the preferred prime minister ranking, going from 48% to 46%, a margin of error movement which puts him still comfortably ahead of his Labor opponent, who sits unchanged on 28%.
Consistent with a voter backlash against Morrison evidenced in this fortnight’s data, support for the government’s handling of the public health crisis slid nine points, from 53% to 44%, while the percentage of voters describing Canberra’s strategy as poor climbed six points, from 24% to 30%.
Voters were asked whether or not the federal government was doing enough, or not enough, to protect Australians from Covid-19. A higher percentage of respondents in the Guardian Essential sample said no than yes, with 46% saying not enough, 37% saying enough, and 17% undecided.
Along with Morrison, the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, also took a hit as Greater Sydney went into lockdown, and amid a debate about whether restrictions should have been imposed sooner.
The number of respondents in the sample characterising Berejiklian’s management of the pandemic as “good” went from 69% to 57% in a month. Just over half the voters in the sample from NSW (51%) thought Berejiklian moved fast enough with the lockdown, while 39% thought not fast enough, and 10% believing the premier moved too quickly.
Annastacia Palaszczuk’s management of the pandemic was also marked down by voters as new infections sent Brisbane and some other Queensland population centres into lockdown. The number of people characterising the state’s management as “good” went from 65% to 61%.
But community sentiment tracked in a positive direction in two states – Victoria (where the number of people describing the Andrews government strategy as “good” went from 48% to 50%) and Western Australia, where support for the McGowan government’s Covid management climbed from 75% to 86%.
While Albanese remains a long way behind Morrison in the headto-head comparisons, the latest poll suggests Labor’s “two jobs” message – the opposition’s oft-repeated argument that Morrison is responsible for vaccinations and for providing suitable quarantine facilities – may be gaining some traction.
Respondents in the survey are now more likely to nominate quarantine as a commonwealth responsibility (71% of the sample says this, up from 62% earlier in the pandemic).
Public confidence in the vaccination rollout has also diminished during the first half of this year. Back in February, 68% of the Guardian Essential sample thought the rollout would proceed efficiently, and 72% safely. Now, only 40% of the sample thinks the rollout is efficient and 64% think it is being done safely.
Morrison announced last Friday there would be a four phase plan to reopen Australia once vaccination rates reached a population-wide threshold to be determined by the Doherty Institute.
Just over half the Guardian Essential sample (51%) say they have already had an inoculation or are happy to be vaccinated as soon as possible. But 33% of respondents say they are not in a rush and 16% say they will never get vaccinated.
The more vaccine hesitant cohort in the sample has been in evidence for some months. Last August, the never vaccinated cohort was 8% of the sample. That’s now 16%. The not in a rush cohort was 35% and that’s now 33% – although that number has been as high as 47% in January 2021.
When asked about their attitudes to specific vaccines, 33% of respondents agree with the statement: “I would be willing to get either the AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine”. Only 5% agree with the statement: “I would be willing to get the AstraZeneca vaccine but not the Pfizer vaccine”, while 36% agree with the statement: “I would be willing to get the Pfizer vaccine but not the AstraZeneca vaccine”. 14% agree with the statement: “I would not be willing to get either the AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine”.
When respondents were asked why they had not yet been vaccinated, 23% say they would like to get vaccinated but haven’t been able to book an appointment, and 15% say they would like to get vaccinated but haven’t gotten around to booking an appointment. Interestingly, the largest group (34%) say they would like to get vaccinated but want to see how others react to the Covid-19 vaccine first before booking an appointment.
A majority of respondents in this fortnight’s survey (57%) who have already been vaccinated report having flu-like side effects with the jab, while 43% report having no side-effects.
Given the country is in another cycle of winter lockdowns, voters were also asked about the impact of the restrictions on their lives. Half the sample (50%) were concerned about the impact on their own mental wellbeing, but parents are more worried about their children, with 59% worried about mental wellbeing for kids and 55% fretful about children falling behind with their learning at school.