Nearly
half (49%) of Australians disagree with the proposed Industrial
Relations reforms with only 17% saying they agree, and 14% unable to
say, according to a special telephone Morgan Poll, conducted
late last week and nearly two weeks after John Howard’s launch.

The survey was conducted to assess whether public opinion had changed since the previous Morgan Poll was conducted in July.

The majority of Australians (80%) have heard about the
Federal Government’s proposed Industrial Relations reforms, up only 1%
since July, despite the continued massive publicity surrounding the
proposed changes.

Only 10% of Australians (unchanged since July, 2005) believe they and
their families will be better off under the proposed Industrial
Relations reforms, whilst 39% think they will not be better off and 31%
are unsure (20% had not heard of the proposed reforms). Union members were more likely than Non-Union members to disagree with
the proposed Industrial Relations reforms (63% cf 47%) and less likely
to believe that the Industrial Relations proposals would be a good
thing for Australia (19% cf 31%).

Gary Morgan says: “Despite the mass of publicity, debate, and advertising by the Federal
Government and the Unions, the opinions of Australians have barely
changed since the last Morgan Poll on the Industrial Relations reforms
in July of this year. In fact, a slightly higher proportion of
Australians now disagree with the Industrial Relations reforms (49%)
than disagreed in July (47%). The percentage of Australians who agree
with the reforms (17%) remains unchanged since the previous survey.”

Read the full report here.