Interest rates - The Australian On Line Opinion Qualitative Poll This is a benchmark poll on community attitudes to interest rate rises for the 2007 Federal Election conducted by On Line Opinion for The Australian.
1. Political This section asks questions about your attitudes to particular politicians, parties and issues.
* 001: 1. If an Australian federal election were to be held next weekend, which of the following parties would receive your first preference?
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Liberal Labor National Greens Democrats Family First Christian Democrats One Nation Independent Other I haven't decided I do not wish to answer
[Only answer this question if you answered 'Other' to question '001 ']
001a: 1.a If your answer to the previous question was "Other" can you please specify below the name of the party?
	Please write your answer here:
* 002: 2. If an Australian federal election was to be held next weekend, which group, Labor or Coalition, would you direct your preferences to favour - that is, which would you prefer to form the government. In an Australian federal election it is compulsory to give preferences.
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Labor Coalition I haven't decided I do not wish to answer
* 003: 3. Thinking about the last Australian federal election, to which party did you give your first preference? (If you can't remember, just select that option).
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Liberal Labor National Greens Democrats Family First Christian Democrats One Nation Independent Other I don't recall I do not wish to answer
* 004: 4. Thinking about federal elections in general, for which party do you normally vote. (If you don't normally vote for any particular party, just select that option).
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Liberal Labor National Greens Democrats Family First Christian Democrats One Nation Independent Other I don't normally vote for any particular party I do not wish to answer
* 005: 5. Please select your electorate from the list below.
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Adelaide I do not wish to answer Aston Ballarat Banks Barker Barton Bass Batman Bendigo Bennelong Berowra Blair Blaxland Bonner Boothby Bowman Braddon Bradfield Brand Brisbane Bruce Calare Calwell Canberra Canning Capricornia Casey Charlton Chifley Chisholm Cook Corangamite Corio Cowan Cowper Cunningham Curtin Dawson Deakin Denison Dickson Dobell Dunkley Eden-Monaro Fadden Fairfax Farrer Fisher Flinders Forde Forrest Fowler Franklin Fraser Fremantle Gellibrand Gilmore Gippsland Goldstein Gorton Grayndler Greenway Grey Griffith Groom Gwydir Hasluck Herbert Higgins Hindmarsh Hinkler Holt Hotham Hughes Hume Hunter Indi Isaacs Jagajaga Kalgoorlie Kennedy Kingsford Smith Kingston Kooyong La Trobe Lalor Leichhardt Lilley Lindsay Lingiari Longman Lowe Lyne Lyons Macarthur Mackellar Macquarie Makin Mallee Maranoa Maribyrnong Mayo McEwen McMillan McPherson Melbourne Melbourne Ports Menzies Mitchell Moncrieff Moore Moreton Murray New England Newcastle North Sydney O Connor Oxley Page Parkes Parramatta Paterson Pearce Perth Petrie Port Adelaide Prospect Rankin Reid Richmond Riverina Robertson Ryan Scullin Shortland Solomon Stirling Sturt Swan Sydney Tangney Throsby Wakefield Wannon Warringah Watson Wentworth Werriwa Wide Bay Wills Unsure
2. Interest Rates How would a rise in interest rates affect you?
* 006: 6. Interest rates have risen since the last election, and they are tipped to rise again next week. Does this make you more or less likely to vote for the government?
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Much less likely Less likely Neither more nor less likely More likely Much more likely Unsure I do not wish to answer this question
* 007: 7. In a short sentence could you explain your answer to the previous question?
	Please write your answer here:
* 008: 8. Interest rates have risen since the last election, and they are tipped to rise again next week. Does this make you more or less likely to vote for the opposition?
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Much less likely Less likely Neither more nor less likely More likely Much more likely Unsure I do not wish to answer this question
* 009: 9. In a short sentence could you explain your answer to the previous question?
	Please write your answer here:
* 010: 10. In your own words could you tell us what you understand John Howard’s promise on interest rates to be?
	Please write your answer here:
* 011: 11. Do you believe that John Howard has kept his promise?
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Unsure I do not wish to answer this question
* 012: Here are a number of statements about interest rates. Can you please rate them from 1 to 5 where 5 means you agree strongly and 1 means you disagree strongly?
	Please choose the appropriate response for each item: “While interest rates have gone up in recent years, they are still very low in historical terms.” 1  2  3  4  5  “John Howard has increased interest rates 5 times since the last election, he has broken his promise on interest rates.” 1  2  3  4  5  “Interest rates go up and interest rates go down. No reasonable person would believe that John Howard was promising that rates would never go up under a Liberal government.” 1  2  3  4  5  “The Reserve Bank’s current interest rate is 6.5%. This is too high.” 1  2  3  4  5  “Since the last election the reserve bank has only increased its cash rate from 5.25% to 6.5%. This is a good result.” 1  2  3  4  5  “I am paying 8.3% on my home loan. This is a bad result.” 1  2  3  4  5  “The standard home loan rate is 8.3%. While it has always been lower under John Howard it was always higher under Keating, Hawke and Malcolm Fraser, back to 1973. This is a good result.” 1  2  3  4  5  “The government is not responsible for the level of interest rates, markets are.” 1  2  3  4  5  “The current government is not responsible for the level of interest rates, they are low because of the reforms of the Hawke Keating government.” 1  2  3  4  5
3. Demographic This section asks questions so that we can place you in context with other respondents. Your personal details are confidential and will not be revealed to anyone.
* 013: 13. Your name
	Please write your answer here:
* 014: 14. Your age
	Please choose *only one* of the following: 0-14 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+ I do not wish to answer
* 015: 15. Your gender
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Male Female Other I do not wish to answer
* 016: 16. Your residential postcode
	Please write your answer here:
* 017: 17. Your email address
Only required to validate this questionnaire	Please write your answer here:
* 018: 18. Are you prepared to be involved in follow-up research?
	Please choose *only one* of the following: Yes No
Submit Your Survey. Thank you for completing this survey. Please fax your completed survey to: 07 3252 9818Please submit by 2007-11-07.