Australians receptive to Tony Abbott’s Team Australia message David Crowe Political Correspondent AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 31, 2014 ANYONE who doubts the good sense of the Australian electorate should be reassured by a verdict issued this week on the nation. Despite the best efforts of some politicians, voters are not hardening their attitudes towards Muslim Australians, turning their backs on migrants or losing faith in multiculturalism. They are more concerned about national security than four months ago — who wouldn’t be? — but not showing signs of alarm. They still rate the economy as the nation’s biggest problem. And whatever cheap shots are fired across the chamber in question time, their trust in government is growing after slumping when Labor lost its head in 2010. There are important lessons for all parties in the annual survey of social cohesion by the Scanlon Foundation at Monash University. It does not pass judgment on parties and leaders — it is not a Newspoll — but offers a deep study of social attitudes. The community is receptive to the bipartisan message from Canberra about the changes needed to respond to terrorism, and the attempts by the government to work with rather than demonise the Muslim community. Asked to name the most important problem facing the country in June and July, 34 per cent chose the economy and 17 per cent nominated “government and politicians” — perhaps reflecting disputes in winter over the budget. That has changed. This month only 23 per cent named the economy while 17 per cent said problems around defence, national security and terrorism. Politicians didn’t make the top five. (The survey asks respondents to name problems with no prompting.) At the same time, trust in government rose for the first time in years. Asked in June and July how often they thought the government in Canberra could be trusted to do the right thing, 20 per cent said “most of the time” and 6 per cent said “almost always”. This month the first measure rose to 30 per cent and the second held steady at 6 per cent. This is a long way from Kevin Rudd’s glory days in 2009 when these two measures added up to 48 per cent. They slumped to 31 per cent just before he was toppled in June 2010. Perhaps this provides hope for Tony Abbott at a time when voters are dissatisfied with his performance and unhappy with his budget. His “Team Australia” phrase may be corny but the message is reaching a receptive audience. “The government’s now on a track that’s actually engaging more with the electorate; people are taking it more seriously,” says Andrew Markus, who runs the Scanlon Foundation and has done the survey since 2007. Bill Shorten is right to set a bipartisan direction on national security but the political rewards may go to the Prime Minister. It is on border protection, though, that the survey holds the biggest lesson for Labor. A year ago, 12 per cent named asylum-seekers as a problem facing Australia. Now it is 4 per cent. The community is split on how to treat asylum-seekers — 31 per cent support turning back boats but 24 per cent support granting permanent residency to those who arrive by boat and 30 per cent favour temporary residency. Labor struggles to balance these competing views. Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles dismayed the Left this week by not ruling out turn-backs, yet the new survey shows one-quarter of Labor voters support this approach. The Opposition Leader insists there has been no change in policy but he may need to reconsider this by the time of the next election. For now, Labor’s policy alternative on boats is a blank canvas while its political approach is silence. It would prefer not to talk about the issue and use every doorstop to hammer the budget. Yet the Scanlon report suggests voter concern about asylum-seekers is falling while support remains strong for the humanitarian migration intake, overall migration levels and multiculturalism in general. Any suggestion Labor is not strong on border protection holds grave risks for Shorten. Mainstream attitudes are nowhere near the policies of the Greens or refugee advocates.. Of course, the government could squander the support it is building on border protection and national security, just as it fumbled its message on the budget and the economy this year. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has taken to calling his opponents “Team Idiot” during question time, a cheap shot he was asked to withdraw. Perhaps this is a clever way to wield “Team Australia” against Labor, but it is the sort of bombast, hubris and arrogance that voters hate. Belligerence and division may work in opposition but are less effective in government. If there is one political message out of the Scanlon Foundation report, it is that Abbott’s attempts at consensus on national security are working. And if the “Team Australia” brand works then it is surely foolish to pollute it with partisanship. The findings also rebuke merchants of division such as Cory Bernardi in the Liberals and Jacqui Lambie in the Palmer United Party. For all the alarm about terrorism, Muslim Australians and people in burkas arriving at Parliament House, there is no big shift in attitude against this religious minority. In June and July, 12 per cent said they were “very negative” and 15 per cent were “somewhat negative” towards Muslims. This month this was 15 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. Markus does not see a statistically significant change here. The overall negative sentiment was 27 per cent before the latest terror fears and 23 per cent afterwards. Voters can be so much better than their politicians. Illustration: Eric Lobbecke Source: Supplied
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 21:48:58 +0000