Most Australians have had enough of the opportunistic point-scoring that characterises politics today and want leaders who put the public interest first.
In summary
- Analysis for The Conversation by Dr Samuel Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Management, Dr Jason Pallant, Lecturer of Marketing, and Dr Timothy Colin Bednall, Senior Lecturer in Management and Fellow of the APS College of Organisational Psychologists, Swinburne University of Technology
With the federal election a little over a month away, it appears many Australians have little faith the winners will be able to provide the type of leadership that can change the country in a meaningful way.
According to our recent research, nearly a third (29.8%) of respondents believe that the Coalition shows no "leadership for the public good", compared to just 5% who believe the Coalition shows such leadership to an extremely large extent.
Labor fared only slightly better – 24.9% of respondents believe it shows no "leadership for the public good", compared to 7.3% who said it shows it to an extremely large extent.
Our findings revealed that minor parties, the Greens and One Nation, didn't inspire confidence, either. About a third (32.9%) of respondents believe the Greens show no "leadership for the public good", while just over half (50.3%) believe the same of One Nation.
Equally concerning is the collapse of Australians' trust and confidence in their democratic institutions of government.
Just over a quarter (26.3%) of respondents believe that the federal government, as an institution, shows no "leadership for the public good". This score is somewhat worse than perceptions of state governments (24.6%) and significantly worse than perceptions of local governments (16.2%).
