Polls measuring support for the proposed pulp mill (November 2007 to 2008)

9 November 2007 EMRS poll on voter intentions
A poll of voter intentions for the federal election in the seat of Lyons was conducted by EMRS. Question: For which candidate would you vote in the November 24 federal election? Results:

Adams (ALP) 46%
Page (Lib) 29%
Cassidy (Greens) 13%
Quin (Independent) 8%
Unsure 5%

Number of voters surveyed 400
Source: Ben Quin, http://www.benquin.com.au/

12 November 2007 Roy Morgan poll
An opinion poll of 552 voters from across Australia was conducted Roy Morgan re the pulp mill. (The exact wording of the questions was not reported). Results:

70% were aware the Tasmanian Government had approved a Gunn's pulp mill to be built in the Tamar valley.
52% believed there should be a Federal Government inquiry to review the pulp-mill process.
24% of voters approved of the mill, 46% disapproved and 30 % were unsure.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22750209-921,00.html

12 November 2007 EMRS poll on support for the pulp mill
The Wilderness Society commissioned EMRS to conduct a statewide poll of 1022 respondents about their attitude towards building the proposed pulp mill. Results:

In favour 37%;
Opposed 54%;
Unsure 10%.

Source www.wilderness.org.au

6 February 2008 George Town Council elector poll The George Town Council was petitioned to hold an elector poll by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission on issues associated with the pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. Results were released on 6 February 2008. George Town electors were asked yes or no to the following questions and 63.97% (3329) returned their postal votes.

Question 1 Do you agree with:

a) the process used to assess the proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley? Yes 53.43% No 46.57% b) the type of pulp manufacture proposed?

Yes 55.50%
No 44.50%

c) the location of a pulp mill of the proposed type in the Tamar Valley?

Yes 54.41%
No 45.59%

Question 2 Do you believe that the pulp mill will have a net adverse impact on the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the Tamar Valley and its residents?

Yes 47.70%
No 52.30%

Commentary

Nearly half the residents of the George Town municipality (47.7%) believe that the pulp mill will have a net adverse impact on the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the Tamar Valley and its residents. Just over half of the respondents (52.3%) say they believe there will be no net adverse impact. More than one third (36.03%) had not made up their mind or were unwilling to express an opinion by voting.

This result will disappoint the proponents of the mill given all the efforts to sell the mill and its benefits to these residents. Continuous advertising of the mill benefits by Gunns and ongoing support by the State Government have fallen well short of securing a clear majority support.

The number of elector poll votes returned (3329) was almost the same as the number of votes cast (3319) at the George Town Council local government elections held in October 2007. The margin of 2.3% of voters in Question 2 corresponds to 77 votes and is almost the same as the margin in the October Mayor election result where pro-mill Mayor Burt scraped in by 110 votes against two anti-mill mayoral candidates.

The George Town electors appear firmly split down the middle.

20-28 March 2008 EMRS poll on the ANZ bank

A survey of 1000 householders was conducted by EMRS between the 20th and 28th March 2008. Of these, 500 were from the South, 280 from the North and North East and 220 from the North West and West Coast regions.

Question: are you in favour of or against the ANZ bank funding the pulp mill? Responses:

In Favour 29% (294)
Against 45% (451)
No Opinion 26% (255)

On a two answer preferred basis; in favour = 39%, against = 61%.

Source www.tapvision.info

20-28 March 2008 EMRS poll on government priorities

1000 Tasmanian adults were interviewed by telephone. Of these, 500 were from the South, 280 from the North and North East and 220 from the North West and West Coast regions.

Question 1: of five areas (listed below) which is the most important for the government to spend money?

(Please note that the results for this question that were posted on the website up to 19 May 08 had been incorrectly transcribed. The correct results from EMRS are listed below. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and extend our thanks to those who reported the inconsistency. Admin.)

Results:

Health Infrastructure and Services 69% (692)
Education Infrastructure and Services 16% (162)
Public Housing 8% (82)
Water Reform 5% (53)
Infrastructure specifically for the Pulp Mill 1% (11)

Question 2: of the 5 listed which is the least important for the Government to spend money? Results:

Infrastructure specifically for the Pulp Mill 79% (794)
Water Reform 11% (107)
Public Housing 8% (82)
Education Infrastructure and Services 1% (14)
Health Infrastructure and Services 0% (3)

Findings

Only 11 respondents (1%) found the “infrastructure specifically for the Pulp mill” to be the most important area for the government to spend money. 69% found “health infrastructure and services” to be the most important. “Infrastructure specifically for the Pulp mill” was seen as the least important area for the government to spend money by over three quarters of respondents (79%).

Commentary

What is revealed in these poll results is a huge gap between what the people polled see as funding priorities and what the Premier of Tasmania and the State Government are doing and plan to do with public monies. The Premier and the State Government have allocated public money to expedite and promote the Gunns pulp mill and are "examining" building a $60 million pipeline from the Trevallyn Dam to Long Reach to supply water to the pulp mill. The State and Federal Governments are spending $70 million on improvements to the East Tamar Highway.

At a time when essential services such as health, education, public housing are being run down the Government is essentially misappropriating public money to build Gunns their pulp mill.

These poll results show how unpopular this policy is with the Tasmanian people. TAP spokesman Bob McMahon said the "the Labor Party must change direction and to survive it must cut the leader loose. You can have either a pulp mill or a health system. You can't have both."

Source www.tapvision.info

22 June 2008 GetUp national poll on support for Gunns planned pulp mill
GetUp commissioned Essential Research to carry out a national poll of 1000 Australians between 10-15 June 2008 on the level of support for Gunns planned pulp mill.

Results: 61% oppose the Gunns planned pulp mill. Of those voters supporting Labor, 65 per cent opposed the mill whilst 52% of Coalition voters opposed the mill.

Ed Coper of GetUp said it shows how much the public's concerns had been ignored in this issue.

30 June 2008 GetUp state poll on the level of support for further government funding of Gunns' pulp mill

GetUp commissioned EMRS to carry out a statewide poll of 1000 voters on the level of support for further state or federal government funding for the Gunns planned pulp mill. GetUp found 75 per cent of respondents didn't want any more taxpayer money spent on the mill. Opposition to further handouts was strong in both genders, all age groups and all regions of the state.

Results statewide: