A majority of Australians think the attorney general should face an independent inquiry into whether he is a fit and proper person to remain first law officer, but voters are split about whether an inquiry would offend the rule of law, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
The latest survey of 1,124 respondents finds more than half the sample (55%) believes the prime minister should set up an investigation to satisfy himself of the attorney general’s fitness after a historical rape allegation was levelled against Christian Porter. Porter has firmly denied the allegation stating it “never happened”.
But 45% of the sample agrees with a statement mirroring Scott Morrison’s framing: “We need to respect the rule of law, we can’t have a trial by mob.” Australians split on gender and partisan lines.
Men (49%), voters aged over 55 (55%) and Coalition voters (63%) are mostly likely to reject the need for an independent inquiry, while a majority of women (59%) believe there should be one. Greens and Labor voters are most likely to hold this view (77% and 72% respectively) compared to other voters (37% Coalition voters, 48% minor and independent party voters).
Morrison has declared repeatedly that an independent inquiry would undermine the rule of law – a line of argument that has been rejected by a number of legal experts.
The Guardian Essential sample splits three ways on this proposition: 37% agree with Morrison’s framing, 33% disagree and 31% are undecided, with men more likely than women to agree with the prime minister’s argument (44% to 30% respectively). Older voters are also more likely to agree with Morrison’s proposition than younger voters.
The rape allegation levelled by the former Liberal staffer, Brittany Higgins, against a former colleague, and the separate allegation against Porter dating back to 1988, have clearly registered with voters. Thousands of Australians took to the streets on Monday around the country to register a public protest.
A majority of the Guardian Essential sample believes the stories that have dominated politics for the past month are relevant to all women (68%) and a majority of respondents believe that it is time women were believed when they say they have been assaulted (67%).
While agreement with these two statements is high among all voters, agreement is higher among women (75% and 76% respectively), people aged over 55 (75% and 71% respectively) and Labor voters (77% and 76% respectively).
Only 16% of the sample agrees with the statement: “This is just a Canberra insider story.”
A majority of the sample (62%) supports the statement: “Because the charge of rape is so serious, the burden of proof needs to be high.” But men (66%) are more likely to agree with that statement than women (59%). Agreement with this statement is also high among voters aged over 55 (71%) and Coalition voters (74%).
Over the past month, voter approval of Morrison’s performance is down three points (65% last month to 62% in the latest survey). Approval of the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, is steady on 41% – up one point on last month.
Morrison remains ahead of Albanese as preferred prime minister 52% to 26%, with 22% of the sample unable to nominate a preference. Morrison is strongly favoured by Coalition voters (86%) compared to Albanese (8%).
Just under half (49%) of Labor voters now believe that Albanese would make the better prime minister, which is a significant increase since last month (42%), while one-third still think Morrison would make the better leader and 22% don’t know.
Apart from the allegations of sexual assault, the main political story over the past month has been the national rollout of vaccinations for Covid-19.
Just under half (47%) of the Guardian Essential sample now say they would get vaccinated as soon as possible – which is down slightly from earlier in the month, but higher than percentages captured late last year and the beginning of 2021.
A similar proportion (40%) say they will get vaccinated but not straight away (40%), while 12% say that would never get vaccinated, consistent with levels seen in the past few months.