Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/02/20/aussies_like_the_nbn/
Australians like the NBN: poll
Gaining ground again after slump
Posted in Networks, 20th February 2012 21:30 GMT
The campaign against Australia’s National Broadband Network appears to be losing ground, with a poll by Essential Research showing growing support for the government’s infrastructure project.
Although supporters of the network have always outweighed opponents in Essential’s poll, its latest research shows that for a while, the anti-NBN political campaign gained some ground.
Support for the project now stands at 56 percent of respondents to the poll, recapturing a peak last seen in September 2010. In the interim, however, sustained criticism of the NBN seemed to gain some traction among Australians, so that a year ago, total support had fallen to 48 percent.
The “total support” figure combines those that “strongly favour” the network (20 percent in yesterday’s poll) and “favour” (36 percent).
However, nay-sayers today remain more numerous than in 2010, with the total respondents expressing opposition to the network standing at 25 percent (compared to 18 percent in the 2010 survey). Today’s figure, however, represents a decline in opposition to the network.
Unsurprisingly, Labor and Greens voters show the strongest support, at 80 percent and 77 percent, respectively. The Liberal / National voters are less likely to show such a strong party / NBN association, with a small majority (43 percent) opposing the network compared to 42 percent supporting.
Essential says even the older 55-64 age group favours the network 52 percent to 34 percent. ®