Religious epithets like the “mad monk” and “captain Catholic” are routinely applied - usually as negatives - to Tony Abbott in coverage of the alternative Prime Minister. So we wanted to find out if they resonated with voters.
A Punch poll of 100 voters across Sydney found that Labor and Green voters despise the way Abbott injects religion into his political campaign and policy. On the other hand, Liberal voters respect Abbott as a ‘conviction politician’ who is firm on his beliefs.
But critically for the electoral arithmetic the poll also found undecided voters don’t care about religion and politics. You can see some of the responses in the video below, but here’s what else we found.
As a reflection of what people know about Abbott’s religious beliefs, without prompting, the word ‘Catholic’ came up 38 times. People also frequently associated the words Christian, religious, family man and narrow-minded with the Opposition Leader.
The Punch survey found people’s views on Abbott’s religious beliefs were polarised. People either liked them, or hated them.
When you delve deeper about Tony Abbott and religion – many people quip the line that he is a “religious extremist”. Take for example Wanda from Potts Point, she labels him “a right wing, Opus Dei Catholic, in bed with George Pell – not literally though of course… (laughs)”. Tony Abbott is not a member of Opus Dei.
A repeated complaint respondents raised was a belief about Abbott mixing religion and politics in a way Australians disapprove of. This was raised by Ariella, from Picton – who said, “Being overly religious in his campaign, makes me think he’s less likely to be on the ball with political issues.”
But both Wanda and Ariella are ardent Green supporters and would never vote Liberal anyway.
A total of 11 people out of 100 said Abbott’s views on other social issues such as gay marriage, climate change and inequality against women were a negative. With the exception of two, these were all committed Labor or Greens voters.
Those who supported Abbott’s views found he was strong in sticking to his beliefs. Ji, from North Rocks said he was “A devout Catholic who’d stand firm on issues against abortion, morality, gay marriages and euthanasia.”
Nigel, from Adelaide described Abbott as a “family person”, though his support for WorkChoices and contraception seemed to contradict his Catholic beliefs. Both would vote for Liberal in the next election.
Others who support Abbott were not concerned about his religious beliefs; rather other factors such as Stephen, from Leumeah who said, “Kevin Rudd wants to censor the internet, and Abbott doesn’t.” Or Steve, from Castle Hill, “I care about jobs, not religion”.
23 people surveyed did not feel they knew anything on Tony Abbott’s views on religion. Many were more concerned with other aspects such as the economy, as Bruce, from Yennora points out, “I don’t care about his views on religion. I care about the Financial Budget”. Others such as Thuy, from Canley Heights points out, “I couldn’t care less – I just vote what my family votes”.
This highlights not only Australian’s aversion to religion and politics but also the fact they care more about hip pocket issues rather than whether Abbott can say the ‘Hail Mary’ in Pig Latin.
One of the more interesting findings of The Punch survey was that Liberal voters were more keenly aware of Abbott’s biographical history. Details like the fact “he was once a seminarian” or “he thought about becoming a priest” were brought up continually by Liberal supporters.
But it is the undecided voters who are unaware of Tony Abbott – the man. Thus we have a plethora of biographical TV profile both positive – i.e. 60 minutes and well not so positive i.e. Four Corners.
As Australia heads towards a Federal Election it is these narratives and his response to “real issues” like maternity leave that will define Tony Abbott in the minds of swinging voters.
That said, there will always be voters who simply don’t care which party governs Australia. William from Chipping Norton sums up this attitude, “I don’t ‘vote’. I write nasty limericks on the ballot paper…”
The Punch survey was conducted across Sydney during the week of the 1-5 March. Summarised it found the following:
- 62% of voters said that Tony Abbott’s religious views had no impact on how they would vote at the 2010 Federal election. With respondents typically indicating that their voter preference was more often influenced by party loyalty or other issues such as economic factors.
- 24% said Mr Abbott religious and social views may some impact but would not be a deciding factor.
- Only 6 people said Mr Abbott’s religious views would be the deciding factor in the election. Of those only 2 of these people classed themselves as undecided voters.
This left 8% of respondents unsure of what impact religion would have. All of these respondents said they knew little about Mr Abbott’s religious views.
The Punch conducted the poll across Sydney approaching voters in safe Labor and Liberal suburbs: Cabramatta, Liverpool, Fairfield, Sydney CBD, Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills. It also polled in more marginal suburbs such North Ryde (Macquarie University) and Parramatta.
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