Satisfaction with the country has improved somewhat since the third-wave of infections when much of the south-east of Australia was in lockdown. However, satisfaction with the handling of the pandemic by the federal government and leaders are at low levels.
In October 2021, 70% of Australians were satisfied with the direction of the country.
Only 40% of Australians, however, thought the Federal Government was doing a good or excellent job handling the pandemic.
Views on Scott Morrison’s performance in handling the pandemic were even more negative, with only 37% thinking that he was doing a good or excellent job in handling the pandemic.
Perceptions of the State/Territory governments were much more favourable, with 67% of Australians thinking they are doing a good or excellent job.
Respondents were asked at the start of the October 2021 survey (and in every survey since October 2019) ‘Firstly, a general question about your views on living in Australia. All things considered, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way the country is heading?’ Combining those who were satisfied or very satisfied, there was a significant and substantial decline in satisfaction between April and August 2021, but a small and statistically significant increase between August and October 2021.
Australians are still not as satisfied in the direction of the country as they were throughout 2020 when around four-in-five Australians were either satisfied or very satisfied. However, satisfaction does appear to have improved somewhat since the third-wave of infections when much of the south-east of Australia was in lockdown.
While a high proportion of Australians are satisfied with the direction of the country, that does not necessarily mean that they attribute Australia’s relative success to key institutions. Indeed, many Australians think that key individuals and institutions have done a relatively poor job during the pandemic.
Australians do not think their political leaders are doing well (or have done well) during the pandemic, particularly at the federal level. Only 5.4 per cent of Australians think the Federal Government is doing an excellent job with 34.5 per cent thinking it is doing a good job. Rather than being an asset for the government, it would appear that the Prime Minister is if anything viewed slightly more poorly than the Federal Government generally. Only 7.5 per cent of Australians thought that Prime Minister Scott Morrison is doing an excellent job, with a further 29.8 per cent thinking that he was doing a good job. Views on Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese were even more negative than for the Prime Minister or the Federal Government, with 2.1 per cent thinking he is doing an excellent job and 26.0 per cent thinking he is doing a good job. Australians are, however, more positive towards the state/territory government and non-political institutions.