This week’s Essential Report has the primaries running 50 (up 1) / 36 (down 1) to Labor, washing out into a two party preferred of 59/41 the same way – a 1 point gain to the ALP since the last Essential Report. The Greens are on 8 (up 1) while the broad others are steady on 7. This comes from a rolling two week sample of 1967, giving us an MoE that maxes out around the 2.2% mark.

Additional questions this week go to who is best perceived to measure various issues of national importance, as well as some questions on the CPRS. These additional questions come from a sample of 1097, giving us an MoE that maxes out around the 3% mark.

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How important are the following issues in deciding how you would vote at a Federal election?

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It’s worth noting how the importance of issues changes as those issues dominate the media cycle. Consider the issues that have been dominating the media cycle lately – things like border security, post-stimulus economic issues and the CPRS – and the categories they could broadly fit into have all lifted, with Security/War on Terrorism and Climate change lifting by large margins compared to public perception back in March of this year.

Leadership also had an interesting drop down the list over the period.

Which party do you think is best at handling each of the following issues?

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The ALP’s lead margin has reduced in 10 of these 13 policy areas, improved in 2 and the Managing the Economy issue has come in as a tie – removing the last area where the Liberals held a lead.

Do you think the Federal Government’s emissions trading scheme:

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On the cross-tabs, Essential says:

Females were more likely to think the emissions trading scheme goes too far in favouring big business (35%), while males were more likely to think it goes too far in favouring the environment movement (22%).

People aged 55 years and over were more likely to think the emissions trading scheme goes too far in favouring big business (37%), while people aged 25 – 34 were more likely to indicate they don’t know whether the emissions trading scheme goes too far in favouring business, the environment movement or has the balance right (49%).

Green voters were more likely to think the scheme goes too far in favouring big business (61%), Coalition voters were more likely to think it goes too far in favouring the environment movement (34%) and Labor voters were more likely to think the emissions trading scheme has the balance about right (25%).