The results of The XYZ Viewer Poll asking the question “How will the sacking of Tony Abbott, and his replacement with Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister by the Liberal Party, affect your vote?” indicate strong support for right-wing minor parties at tomorrow’s Australian Federal Election. Three quarters (524/694) of respondents said they would vote for a conservative/ Liberal leaning minor party.
One big question then, will be how this affects preference flow. 44% of respondents, (306/694) said they would preference the Liberal Party last in order to punish it for disloyalty, while 31% (218) are concerned enough about the damaging effects of a Labor/Greens coalition that they would still preference the Liberal Party above the socialist parties. A significant portion of respondents (14%, 100/694) said they would still vote for the Liberal Party, but with a heavy heart, while only 10 respondents said that the change to Malcolm Turnbull would actually change their their vote to the Liberal Party.
Such results may well be a reflection of the the type of readership The XYZ has. Given that The XYZ favours classical liberalism and cultural libertarianism over political correctness, small government over increases in social spending, openness regarding the nature of Islamic terrorism, and pride in Australia’s European heritage and a melting pot approach to integration, over divisive multiculturalism, it is natural that The XYZ would attract readers who are critical of the Liberal Party’s tilt to the left under Malcolm Turnbull, and prefer Tony Abbott as leader.
But such a strong response in favour of a protest vote amongst non-left-wing voters confirms what commentators like Larry Pickering and Mark Zanetti have been saying for a year, and more recently Paul Murray on Sky News: At tomorrow’s election, there is going to be carnage on the political right.
The big three questions are thus:
- Will the protest vote be divided, or will it coalesce around several main parties?
- Will the protest vote occur in just the Senate, or in the House of Representatives as well?
- Will this protest vote cost the Turnbull government the election?
For the answer to these questions, we will, as usual, throw it over to you, the reader.
It’s your XYZ.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.Photo by Eligius4917 
