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The Australia Institute commissioned ReachTEL to conduct a survey of 1,031 residents across the federal electorate of Mayo on the evening of 5 June 2018. The poll included a question about funding for the ABC. The results are released today.

Key results:

74% of respondents think funding for the ABC should be increased or stay the same, with only 23% want funding decreased
50% of Liberal voters want funding increased or to stay the same, 45% want it reduced
87% of Rebekha Sharkie voters want funding for the public broadcaster maintained or increased
Voters across all age groups support maintaining or increasing funding for the ABC, with older voters the most likely to support more funding for the ABC

Question
In the Budget the government cut the ABC’s funding by $83.7 million. Do you think funding for the ABC should be reduced, increased, or stay the same?

	Total	Female	Male	18-34	35-50	51-65	65+
Increased	40.5%	39.3%	41.8%	36.4%	41.5%	44.9%	37.9%
Stay the same	33.5%	35.7%	31.1%	23.2%	33.7%	37.1%	35.8%
Reduced	23.0%	19.9%	26.4%	37.7%	19.2%	17.1%	22.9%
Don’t know/Not sure	3.0%	5.1%	0.7%	2.6%	5.7%	0.8%	3.3%

	Total	Centre Alliance	Liberal	Labor	Greens	Other	Undecided
Increased	40.5%	53.8%	10.5%	62.5%	65.6%	48.1%	51.7%
Stay the same	33.5%	33.6%	39.5%	21.9%	28.9%	11.1%	27.6%
Reduced	23.0%	10.5%	45.1%	14.1%	5.6%	37.0%	13.8%
Don’t know/Not sure	3.0%	2.1%	4.9%	1.6%	0.0%	3.7%	6.9%

“The people of Mayo, like the wider electorate, support the ABC. Cutting funding to the ABC is unpopular enough, proposing to privatise the national broadcaster would be political poison,” Ben Oquist, Executive Director of the Australia Institute, said.

“Our research has consistently shown the importance of, and support for, public broadcasting in Australia.

“In an age of fake news, digital disruption, and when the business model for journalism is under threat, a strong well-resourced ABC is needed more than ever,” Oquist said.

For media enquiries, please contact: Anna Chang 0422 775 161