I watched the "Insiders," program on the ABC on
Sunday 13th April 2014. They gave an excellent coverage
of the PM's recent trips to Japan, South Korea, and
China. The panel was unanimous in their praise of how
well our PM has handled himself overseas. I must admit
I have to agree. He performed extremely well - maintaining
exactly the right stance. Yet, according to an article
in the Sydney Morning Herald - the polls do not reflect
the PM's popularity. Are people simply disenchanted with
political parties, or is the article correct that people
really don't like what the government is doing? And, how much can we really rely on the polls?

Here's the article:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-slumps-in-polls-despite-best-week-yet-20140413-zqu9c.html

Hi Foxy,

I don’t know the answer as to why some polls don’t reflect voter sentiment. I can say that I was contacted by “Reachtel” two days ago and found that I could not answer many of the questions honestly.

The questions were either loaded, closed, assumptions or “when did you top beating your wife” type questions. Very disappointing. Any results would certainly not reflect my sentiments.

If the rest of the polls are based on similar lines of questioning, then no wonder they are skewed.

I guess it depends on whether these are being used to generate pro or anti government sentiment. In the end it’s not about the answers, it’s about the questions.

I would say not ruling out raising the pension age to 70 and removing it from indexing might be a big factor, especially when greedy politicians are on indexed for life pensions.

Take one of the people who put the country in trouble on an over $200,000 per year indexed for life pension, that is criminal.

In the meantime you have a gutless Government scared to go after Google, Apple and the big banks and make them pay the tax on money they get from Australian consumers.

His only hope is people will forget by the time the next election comes.

Foxy dear......regardless of which party you follow, the contributors to OLO have an inkling of what is happening with our governance....whether they agree with it or revile against it....they have a clue.

The other 98% are clueless..... and it is not a negative attribute. We contributors to OLO are told of the dismal decisions, the corrupt practices, the waste of taxes, and the greed that breeds ongoing corruption on a post by post basis. Stuff I would rather not know about....but must.

Re the poles....with the 98% it comes down to “I have always voted for them"....or “I can’t stand the other bloke ....or woman.” The split between Labor and the Coalition has always been slim. But from the outcome of the last election we see that disastrously poor management and failed policy is accepted...but an open boarder bringing the most alien of cultures to our shores will move the masses.

Abbott is not photogenic, he’s not a statuesque character so even if he saved little Mary from a fire 5 days a week the polls would reflect negatively. As you know I don’t support either party’s policies or principals....but if there were degrees of honesty and propriety Abbott wins over any of the past Labor leaders going back to Beasley.

Sonofgloin, I doubt that it is Abbott's physical attributes, or lack of them, that is negatively affecting him in the polls.
If that were the case, I can't see how any of the many previous PM's fared any better!

I think one of the problems for Tony is that most of his pre-election fans concentrated on his "I will stop the votes" slogan, while ignoring his very generous paid parental leave scheme......until now.
Now they are worried.

Foxy,

Because it's finally dawning on many of those who voted for his shonky govt that its leader is a lying hound.

"Our Pledge
No cuts to Education, no cuts to Health, no changes to Pensions, no changes to GST, no cuts to ABC or SBS under a Govt I lead.
(signed): Tony Abbott"

Made a nice billboard.....