This week’s Essential Report (delayed on my end by a bit of Christmas travel – apols about that) has the primaries running 47 (up 2)/ 37 (up 2) to Labor, washing out into a two party preferred of 57/43 the same way – a one point gain to the Coalition since the last Essential. The Greens are 8 (down 2), while the broad “Others” are on 8 (down 1). This comes from a two week rolling sample size of 1884, giving us an MoE that maxes out around the 2.3% mark.

Additional questions this week were on Better Prime Minister, the performance of the Rudd government in 2009, general perceptions of 2009, expectations of 2010 and plans for Christmas day. These additionals ran from a sample of 1033, giving us an MoE that maxes out around the 3.0% mark.

Abbott continues to make no mark on the vote estimates – during his honeymoon.

Who do you think would be the better Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott?

betterpmdecOn the cross-tabs we have:

Kevin Rudd is preferred by 91% of Labor voters and Tony Abbott by 63% of Coalition voters. 13% of Coalition voters prefer Kevin Rudd and 24% did not give an opinion.

Men preferred Kevin Rudd over Tony Abbott 52% to 28% and women 50% to 22%.

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Thinking about the performance of the Rudd Labor Government over 2009 has it been:

0809comparisonThe cross-tabs have us:

43% of Labor voters said the Government’s performance was better than expected and 55% of Coalition voters said worse than expected.

44% of Greens voters thought the Government’s performance was worse than expected and 24% thought it was better than expected.

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Overall, for you personally, was 2009:

09persEssential tells us on the cross tabs:

31% of Labor voters rated 2009 a good year compared to 20% of Coalition voters. There were relatively small differences by age – 28% of under 35’s rated 2009 a good year and 19% bad compared to 23% good and 26% bad for over 55’s.

And compared to 2009, for you personally, do you think 2010 will be –

10persThe cross-tabs have us:

Respondents were a little more optimistic about 2010 compared to 2009. 50% think it will be a better year and only 6% think it will be a worse year. There were no significant differences between the expectations of Labor and Coalition voters. Younger people were more optimistic ‐ 61% of under 35’s think 2010 will be better compared to 38% of over 55’s. 52% of over 55’s think it will be much the same.

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What do you plan to be doing on Christmas Day?

(Note: some respondents gave more than one answer)

xmas1On the cross-tabs, we have:

20% of under 25’s will be staying home for a meal with their partner or household. 16% of 25‐34’s will be going out to a restaurant or elsewhere with family or partner. 17% of over 65’s will be staying at home not doing anything special. 44% of 25‐44’s will be visiting friends or family for a special meal compared to 34% of over 65’s. Those most likely to be working were aged 45‐54 (6%).