New polling shows 'no' voters more likely to see Australia as already divided

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The results of our exclusive opinion poll suggest something to the contrary: most prospective “no” voters see the country as already divided, while “yes” voters are more likely to see it as united.

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Provider:

The Conversation

URL:

https://theconversation.com/new-polling-shows-no-voters-more-likely-to-see-australia-as-already-divided-214713

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Information

Geotags:

AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES

Summary

Key Points:

The results of our exclusive opinion poll suggest something to the contrary: most prospective “no” voters see the country as already divided, while “yes” voters are more likely to see it as united.
These questions were added to the regular Essential opinion poll in its September 5 poll.

Division and the Voice

Of those who see the country as unified, 58% intend to vote “yes”, while only 34% intend to vote “no”.
Those who see division have almost exactly opposite intentions: 59% plan to vote “no” and 34% plan to vote “yes”.
Perceptions of unity and division in Australian society and referendum voting intentions These results are remarkable, and contradict the “no” campaign rhetoric that it is the Voice to Parliament proposal itself that divides us.

Who sees Australia as divided – and why?

Of all the respondents we polled, 27% saw Australia as very or quite unified, and 42% as quite or very divided – which leaves 31% of voters who take a neutral point of view.
Australians may have their disagreements, but only 9% of us see the country as very divided.
It also means “no” voters believe Australia to be considerably more divided, and “yes” voters believe the country to be substantially more unified, than Australians do on average.

A ‘no’ campaign that appeals to perceptions of division

In this sense, rather than offering a voice for unity, the “no” campaign is giving voice to division.
Read more:
The 'yes' Voice campaign is far outspending 'no' in online advertising, but is the message getting through?

Methodology

The survey was conducted online from August 30 to September 3 2023 and is based on 1,151 respondents sourced from online research panels.
Full details of the methodology can be found here.
Samantha Vilkins receives funding from the Australian Research Council through Laureate Fellowship FL210100051 Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate.