A recent state budget poll conducted by EMRS has revealed that nearly half of all respondents believe it is “bad” for the state.
The EMRS survey of 500 Tasmanians found that 45% thought the budget was unfavourable, compared to just over a fifth (22%) who thought it was positive.
When asked whether the budget would leave them better or worse off, a total of 38% indicated that it would leave them in a poorer position, compared to just 6% who said they would be better off.
The poll also found that 63% of respondents were dissatisfied with how the budget addressed the cost of living, 61% with health and housing and 62% with debt.
Asked to nominate three words to best describe the budget, the most common responses were “debt” (44 times), “irresponsible” (43) and “poor” (28).
EMRS Acting General Manager Ken Drake said the recent state budget was “clearly very unpopular with voters” surveyed.
“It is notable that the word most associated with the budget is “debt”, an issue that the government has taken a lot of criticism over in this budget,” he said.
The poll also looked at state voting intentions and found 28% support for the Liberals, 26% for Labor, 17% for the Greens, 5% for Jacqui Lambie Network and 1% for other minor parties.
Drake said that while the voting intention numbers are not directly comparable to regular EMRS polls, some observations can be made.
“These numbers would tend to suggest that while the Liberal vote has declined markedly since the election, Labor has yet to capitalise on this”, he said.
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