According to 64% of Australia's largest focus group, the What the people want project run by eJournal On Line Opinion, Julia Gillard's Citizens' Assembly should be abandoned.

Out of 1,666 responses, only 24% approved while 64% disapproved.

Only ALP voters favoured the proposal, and then only by a margin of 56% to 23%. 92% of Liberals, 88% of Nationals and 61% of Greens voters were opposed.

Chief Editor of On Line Opinion Graham Young said that the pool of responses from the What the people want qualitative survey was 11 times larger than the proposed 150 people who would form Ms Gillard's assembly, and probably more statistically significant.

"The responses show this was an unwise move by PM Gillard. The overwhelming majority of respondents attributed the move to bad faith, although other respondents believed it was a good move to consult the community."

"Analysis of the data using Leximancer software reveals a number of key themes. A large percentage of voters believe that parliament is elected to make these decisions, that they are decisions which should be taken at an election, and that an assembly would be a waste of time."

"Other voters were more cynical and saw it as a political move, designed to delay real action until after the election, or to avoid it altogether. Kevin Rudd was frequently accused of being all talk and no action, now it is Julia Gillard's turn."

Mr Young said that while supporters were less numerous they also felt strongly about the issue.

"Supportive respondents stressed the need to involve the community and people in the process and supported the idea of a consensus."

An image of the Leximancer concept map is below and it links to a website where the data and responses can be viewed.

Verbatims

"We already have a citizen's assembly, it's called Parliament. Parliamentarians are elected to make hard decisions, not sit back and wait for opinions from unelected voters. Randomly selecting 150 - 200 people from the electoral roll or phone book makes for a rabble, not a citizen's assembly" Female, 35-44, 2015

"The Government already has the mandate. I believe it should lead rather than follow the electorate" Male, 55-64, 2093

"At least there woukld be some imput from people without a vested interest in big Australia" Male, 65-74, 7112

"As hse says there needs to be community input into this very important question, in order that the matter can be resolved without politicians playing politics to gain office.and divding the comminity, as said it is a very important matter, despite Mr Abbot's denial that it is so." Male, 65-74, 2529

"Waste of time. There are more effective ways to get a feel for what voters want." Male, 55-64, 4557

"Although it's a delaying tactic, I'm prepared to give the benefit of the doubt here. Given the amazing success of "Climate Sceptics" in Australia, I think that this is quite a good approach to getting the issue properly discussed." Female, 65-74, 3162

"In the life of this gov't we have had 2.5 years of talk, posturing, and changing stance. They have had committees, groups and all sorts of other information and opinion gathering activities." Male, 45-54, 3150

"What a joke, this is just a political stunt, who is going to pick Joe average, reminds me of Rudds big get together. Gillard and Rudd are so much alike, full of spin." Male, 45-54, 6107

To interrogate our respondents, click here.

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Leximancer Map

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