Latest Roy Morgan Findings - Australia

Friday, 20 July 2012, 9:23 am
Press Release: Roy Morgan Research

1. Australians Believe Government/ Political Immigration & Human Rights Issues Are The Most Important Problems Facing Australia (37%, Up 15%) While The Economy Is Still The Biggest Problem Facing The World (46%, Up 4%)

2. United States overtakes New Zealand as the most preferred overseas holiday destination

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1)

Australians Believe Government/ Political Immigration & Human Rights Issues Are The Most Important Problems Facing Australia (37%, Up 15%) While The Economy Is Still The Biggest Problem Facing The World (46%, Up 4%)

In July 2012 Australians believe the most important problems facing Australia are Government/ Political/ Immigration and Human Rights (37%, up 15% since May 2012) and for the World it is Economic & Financial issues (46%, up 4%) according to the latest Roy Morgan Research conducted on the nights of July 10/11, 2012.

Australian views on Problems facing Australia

When asked about the most important problem facing Australia, a group of issues labelled ‘Government, Politics, Immigration & Human Rights issues’ are named by 37% (up 15% since May 2012) of Australians. Within that group 16% (up 12%) mentioned Refugees and asylum problems and 2% (unchanged) mentioned Immigration/ Immigration policy and 16% (up 2%) mentioned the Government, Political system and leadership, and Julia Gillard

Economic & Financial issues are mentioned by 33% (down 11%) including Economy, Economic problems & Interest Rates 10% (unchanged), Unemployment 6% (down 5%) and Disapprove Carbon Tax 4% (up 1%).

Environmental issues are mentioned by 12% (down 1%) as the most important problem facing Australia. The most important Environmental Issues are Disapprove of Carbon Tax (4%, up 1%); Climate Change/ Global Warming 4% (up 1%) and Other Environmental issues 2% (down 1%).

Australian views on Problems facing the World

The biggest World problems are clearly Economic & Financial issues (46%, up 4% since May 2012), which however remains below the peak of 51% reached just over three years ago in May 2009. Within the broad group of Economic issues 18% (up 4%) mentioned the Economy, Economic problems, Interest rates; ahead of Poverty, & Gap between rich and poor at 14% (up 4%); Financial problems/ Money issues at 5% (unchanged); Over-population 4% (unchanged) and Unemployment 3% (down 1%) as the most important Economic issues.

Environmental issues (mentioned by 22% of Australians, up 1% since May 2012) are the next biggest problem facing the World today — the most important issue is still Climate Change/ Global warming 10% (unchanged) followed by Famine/ Food shortages 7% (up 2%).

Michele Levine says:

“This latest Roy Morgan Issues Research shows that Government/ Political/ Immigration/ and Human Rights (37%, up 15% since May 2012) is once again the most important problem facing Australia, replacing Economic & Financial Issues (33%, down 11%) for the first time since February 2011.

“The biggest reason behind the large jump is the increase in Australians saying Refugees & Asylum problems (16%, up 12%) is the most important problem facing Australia - the highest this issue has ever been. Equally large is the Government/ Political system & leadership, Julia Gillard (16%, up 2%). The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates (10%, unchanged) still remains as the third most important problem facing Australia.

“However, Economic Issues (46%, up 4%) are still clearly the most important problem facing the World according to Australians. The most important problems are The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates (18%, up 4%) and Poverty, & Gap between rich and poor (14%, up 4%). The next most important problem facing the World is Environmental Issues (22%, up 1%) led by Climate Change/ Global warming (10%, unchanged) and Famine/ Food shortages (7%, up 2%).”

Click for big version.

Click for big version.

Respondents were asked: “Firstly, what do you think is the most important problem facing the World today?” and “What do you think is the most important problem facing Australia today?”

Click here to view table: Most_Important_Problem_Facing_Australia.pdf

Click here to view table: Most_Important_Problem_Facing_the_World.pdf

*Less than 1%. #Sample sizes under 50 should be treated with caution.

http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2012/4805

2)

United States overtakes New Zealand as the most preferred overseas holiday destination

The number of Australians who would like to holiday in New Zealand fell steeply after the Christchurch earthquakes in February and June 2011; as a result the United States is now Australians most preferred overseas holiday destination. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of over 50,000 interviews annually.

The number of Australians 14+ years who say they would like to holiday in United States has grown strongly, with 2.5 million in June 2012 saying they would like to take a holiday there in the next two years, up from 1.8 million in June 2008.

Preference to holiday in New Zealand in the next two years is at 2.4 million in June 2012, up from 2.2 million in June 2008, but down from its peak in February 2011 of 2.8 million.

Top 5 International Holiday Destinations Would Like to Visit in Next Two Years

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Jane Ianniello, International Director of Tourism, Travel & Leisure, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“The widespread media coverage of the Christchurch Earthquakes in late February and June 2011 has caused the ‘Shaky Isles’ of New Zealand to lose appeal as a holiday destination; both South and North Islands have suffered a decline in the number of Australians who would like to holiday there.
“By contrast United States has grown strongly in terms of the number of Australians who would like to holiday there; this is partly a result of the stronger Australian dollar and cheaper flights, but also a continuation of a long-term trend since early 2007 when Australians’ concerns about terrorism subsided.
“It is important for destination marketers to understand the demographic, attitudinal and behavioural profile of the people who would like to holiday at their destination - and to tailor their communication messages and channels so that they convert these people into actual visitors."

Click here to view our range of Holiday Destination Preference Profiles — including profiles of Australians who would like to take a holiday at different Australian regional destinations, Australian cities, and overseas destinations.Click here to view our range of Holiday Destination Visitor Profiles. These profiles provide an overview of the target group including information on their demographics, attitudes, activities and media usage.
Click here to view our range of profiles of holidaymakers by Holiday Activity — e.g. Beach Holiday, Backpacker Holiday, Casino Holiday, Disco/Nightlife, Hunter/Fisher Holiday, and many more.
Click here to browse thousands of accurate, insightful quantitative Roy Morgan research reports and profiles ready to download now.

About Roy Morgan Research:
Roy Morgan Research is the largest independent Australian research company, with offices in each state of Australia, as well as in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has almost 70 years’ experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers.
In Australia, Roy Morgan Research is considered to be the authoritative source of information on financial behaviour, readership, voting intentions and consumer confidence. Roy Morgan Research is a specialist in recontact customised surveys which provide invaluable and effective qualitative and quantitative information regarding customers and target markets.

Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

http://www.roymorgan.com/news/press-releases/2012/1742

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A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has over 70 years' experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

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