Interest Rates
How will interest rates affect your vote in this election? The government says rates will always be lower under the Coalition than Labor.
To tell us what you think click this link to go to our poll.
Mohamed Haneef
Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef was arrested and detained for 12 days under Australia's anti-terrorism and immigration laws.
He subsequently fled Australia. There are many questions about his treatment. We want to know what you think, and how it
might affect your vote in this year's federal election.
Click here to complete the questionnaire.
Federal Election 2007 - Benchmark Survey
Every election is important, but some elections are decisive. 2007 looks like one of the latter.
We will be conducting a number of surveys leading up to the election, but the most important is
our initial benchmark survey. Tell us what you think about the leaders and the issues by
clicking here. A special feature of this poll is that
we are also asking how religious affiliation - yours and politicians' - might affect your voting intention.
This survey will remain open for a month until 21st May, but we will do initial analysis on responses up
to the 28th April, so don't delay. And please pass the web address on to your friends.
Water - who controls what we drink
The Queensland state government is considering taking control for water collection and distribution from local councils.
Is this a good idea? Councils have historically been responsible for reticulation and some dams,
while state governments have provided some dams and larger infrastructure. The government is currently
building a desalination plant and a water grid. Tell us what you think by
clicking here.
The poll closes on the 13th April, and we will post a summary of the findings soon after that.
Power Generation and The Environment
Here come the Poms, and here comes the heat. But just before we settle down for our summer's lethargy the Federal Government has given us something to think about in the Switkowski Taskforce into nuclear energy. The federal government thinks it has some answers to power generation and greenhouse, we ask you for some of yours.
Nutrition and Obesity
Australians have never been richer, or fatter. Is this a problem? Where do you get your information about nutrition? Are you eating better now than you were? This questionnaire seeks to understand your point-of-view and ask you for your ideas. To complete it, click here.
Market Research
Since George Gallup invented the modern opinion poll citizens have never been safe from the unsolicited telephone call wanting their opinion so as to predict what we all think. With modern technology, and much heavier use of polling, are citizens still responsive to traditional pollsters, or do new ways have to be found to gauge the public mood? We've closed the poll, which you can still read by clicking here, and you can read the report here.
Media Survey
 Media habits are changing, but how and why? Many of you listen to our analysis of these surveys on-air, but we suspect that a significant proportion of you only access it on this site. How do you rate reporting like this compared with the traditional media product? What do you use the various media for anyway? This poll has closed, and there was so much information that we reported in two parts. Part I is here, on the blog and Part II is here.
Queensland State Election 2006 II
 With the Queensland state election less than one week away, we posted a second survey to see whether there had been movement in our sample. There was evidence of a slight swing back, which correlates with what we understand the political parties' polling to show. To view the questionnaire (now closed) click here. Our analysis was posted on the blog and you can read it here.
Queensland State Election 2006
This was our first survey for the Queensland election. It asked similar questions to our benchmark survey earlier this year and allowed us to predict a swing back to the government. The questionnaire is closed but can be viewed by clicking here. Our on-air notes are here.
Recycling sewage for drinking
 Toowomba voted on recycling water for drinking from sewage. The vote was lost, but things might have been different in other cities. The questionnaire is here, and our on-air notes here.
The Environment
 The environment - you can't live without it, but what parts of it are the most important to you? What problems does it face and what are most pressing? What solutions do you have? This questionnaire sought to answer these questions and more at an international, national and local level. The questionnaire is here and our brief analysis here.
Nuclear Age
 The federal government has instituted an inquiry into the potential for using nuclear power in Australia. We ran our own inquiry using this questionnaire which we analysed here. We have yet to finalise the report which we will be sending to the government.
 Libs and Nats merger
The Liberal and National parties announced and then quickly shelved a fresh plan to pursue a merger. Seems they agreed with your judgement that this was at best only a marginally smart move. You can read our full report by clicking here, as well as going to the blog for "the quick and dirty analysis". To view the questionnaire (which is now closed) click here.
 Federal Budget 2006
Not particularly happy Peter. Taxes down and spending up but you’d prefer the money to have gone to infrastructure, health and education? You also aren’t happy with Kim Beazley, preferring Julia Gillard to lead Labor. And Malcolm Turnbull is breathing down Peter Costello’s neck as heir apparent to John Howard. Click here to read the report. You can see the questionnaire here (now closed).
 Education
We've posted two separate questionnaires looking at a number of education issues, and combined your responses in a single report that you can download by clicking here. The questionnaires are close but you can see each of them by clicking here, and here. The short of it is that you are generally dissatisfied with the direction in which education is heading, particularly in state schools, and you want to see more funding, smaller classes, and a concentration on the basics. Given a choice you'll also most likely enroll your own children in a private school.
 Follow-up Benchmark
We asked you to nominate what issues were important to you. You gave us a list. Now we want to impose some order on that list. How important are each of these issues? Who is best to deal with them. The questionnaire is closed but you can view it by clicking here. You can read a report on our research by clicking on this link.
Benchmark Survey
This poll gives you the chance to tell us what issues are important to you so that during the year we can investigate them. It will also give us a benchmark so that over the year we will know how your opinions are changing (if they do) as well as what you think. The questionnaire is closed but you can view it by clicking here. You can read a report on our research by clicking on this link (PDF, 62KB)
 Public Hospitals
Thanks to the 680 respondents we've had so far. We've analysed the responses up until 5:00 p.m. Monday, 13th February. You can see the report here (PDF, 38KB). A "quick and dirty" analysis is up on the blog. Click here. To see the questionnaire (now closed), click here.
 End of year finale
You've marked our political leaders and you've nominated them for awards. Now it's time to vote on the awards. As a bonus, we're also going to let you help them out with their New Year's Resolutions! Click here for the questionnaire.
 OPWhat?
It's almost the end of year, students are swotting for exams and our politicians are sweating over some serious issues. Time to put the pollies under some more heat - it’s your turn to grade your masters. Tell us how well you think our leading politicians have performed by completing the questionnaire here.
 Water & Light
Some issues are running hot and cold in Queensland at the moment – there’s not enough water and some say, not enough light.
The results are in and you can read our report by clicking
here.
Fluoridation is even less popular than recycling sewage for
drinking, but a daylight saving trial looks like a goer. Click here to
view the questionnaire.
 Davies Committee
Our poll on the Davies Inquiry is closed, and the results are ominous for the government. For example 70% of respondents disapprove of Beattie’s handling of the public hospital system, including 44% of last-time Labor voters. To read the report, click here. To view the questionnaire click here.
 Immigration
This poll has also closed. There were only a small number of responses suggesting the issue does not really stir up ABC listeners. We will post some short comments soon.
To view the questionnaire click on this link.
 Industrial Relations
This poll is closed, but we have not analysed it yet. The response was overwhelmingly unfavourable to the
federal government. You can look at the questionnaire
by clicking here.
 Health
Peter Beattie has announced two separate inquiries into the public
health system. No doubt these inquiries will both take submissions
from many of the same experts who've created the problems in the
first place. We're making our own inquiries with the people who
count - you. Tell us about your experiences with Queensland public
hospitals - the good and the bad. We've now completed two reports
on the questionnaires as responses have come in. The first report
can be downloaded here
(rtf 101kb), the second downloaded here
(rtf 74kb), and the third
here (rtf 111kb).
The questionnaire can be found here. It is now closed.
 Liberals and Nationals
The votes are in and tallied. The result is - Queenslanders want a decent opposition and will support any arrangement between the two parties that will provide that. One Conservative Party is supported by around 35% of our respondents, but is least popular with swinging voters, the people who decide elections. To view the report, click here.
The questionnaire can be found here. It is now closed.
Troops in Iraq
Our first What the people want survey shows respondents overwhelmingly
opposed to sending an additional 450 troops to Iraq, with even a
third of Liberal voters opposing it.
Those who support the move do so reluctantly. Many opposed the
war in the first place but recognise a responsibility to finish
the job. Only a small minority is enthusiastic believing that the
operation will make the Middle East more democratic.
Those who oppose this initiative believe overwhelmingly that the
war was wrong, Australia has more important defence priorities and
that we should act independently of the US. They believe if anyone
has a responsibility to fix the problem it is the US, not Australia.
For the full report click here
(rtf 170 kb).
The Courier Mail
published an opinion piece by Graham Young which summarises the
report. You can read it here.
The questionnaire is closed, but you can read it by clicking here.
Education
The research report on this questionnaire has been posted. You
can download it by clicking here
(RTF 300 kb). We'll be doing some more accessible analysis on the
blog. What the research shows is a very high level of dissatisfaction
with the education system in general (less than 50 percent think
it is heading in the right direction) with significant concerns
about funding at a primary school level, and discipline at secondary
school.
Respondents are concerned about the quality of the state school
system, but are deterred from sending their children to private
schools by cost and perceptions that they are snobbish.
The questionnaire is closed - to view it click
here.
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