Melbourne residents now evenly divided on visiting family

A second Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey on six of Victoria’s Stage 4 restrictions shows more Victorians than a week ago favour relaxing restrictions and Melbourne people are now evenly divided 50:50 on whether Melburnians should be able to visit the homes of immediate family members.

Of all Victorians, 47% (up 4% on a week ago) say Melburnians should be able to visit the homes of immediate family members rising to 50% of residents of Melbourne.

An increasing majority of 57% (up 5%) of older Victorians aged 65+, say Melburnians should be able to visit the homes of their immediate family. This is despite being the age group at the greatest risk during the pandemic.

Support for other restrictions has reduced on a week ago but still attract majority support across the board.

An overwhelming majority of Victorians, 87% (down 2%), again say mask wearing should be compulsory in Victoria and over two-thirds 68% (down 6%) say schools and day care centres in Melbourne should not be re-opened to everyone.

Now just over three-fifths of Victorians 61% (down 14%) say Melbourne’s restaurants/hotels/ clubs/cafes should not be able to provide table service with proper social distancing – the biggest change in views compared to a week ago.

In addition, 61% (down 11%) say the 8pm-5am curfew in Melbourne should not be ended and 60% (down 11%) say Melburnians’ should not be able to travel more than 5km from their homes (71%).

People surveyed in Victoria were each asked three of the following six questions to determine their attitudes towards the current Victorian Government Stage 4 directives with changes compared to a week ago:

• Question 1: “Melbourne residents are currently restricted from travelling more than 5km from their homes for exercise or buying essential items such as food. Should Melbourne residents now be free to travel more than 5km from their home?” Yes 40% (up 11%) cf. No 60% (down 11%).
  
  
• Question 2: “Melbourne’s restaurants/hotels/clubs/cafes are only allowed to offer take-away or food delivery services. Should Melbourne’s restaurants/hotels/clubs/cafes now be allowed to provide table service with proper social distancing?” Yes 39% (up 14%) cf. No 61% (down 14%).
  
  
• Question 3: “At present Melbourne has a curfew from 8pm to 5am, should the curfew end now or not?” Yes 39% (up 11%) cf. No 61% (down 11%).
  
  
• Question 4: “Melbourne residents are currently banned from visiting the homes of immediate family members with the exception of delivering care or essential services. Should Melbourne residents now be able to visit the homes of their immediate families?” Yes 47% (up 4%) cf. No 53% (down 4%).
  
  
• Question 5: “Every person living in Victoria must wear a face covering such as a mask when leaving home. Should wearing masks be compulsory in Victoria or not?” Yes 87% (down 2%) cf. No 13% (up 2%).
  
  
• Question 6: “Only permitted workers are allowed to send their children to day care centres and schools. Should schools and day care centres in Melbourne be re-opened to everyone?” Yes 32% (up 8%) cf. No 68% (down 8%).
  

This special Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey was conducted with a Victoria-wide cross-section of 2,062 Victorians aged 18+ conducted on Tuesday September 1 – Wednesday September 2, 2020.

Melburnians are more likely than Country Victorians to want restrictions relaxed – especially the 5km limit on travel and visiting the home of their immediate family

The ‘call’ to make mask wearing compulsory is favoured more by residents of Melbourne 88% (down 2%) than people in Country Victoria 83% (down 4%) – though both are down on a week ago.

The biggest difference between how Melburnians and Country Victorians view the Stage 4 restrictions relates to travelling more than 5km from one’s home. Nearly half of Melburnians 45% (up 14%) say they should be able to travel more than 5km from their home while only 25% (up 3%) of Country Victorians say the same about residents of Melbourne.

The second largest difference relates to being allowed to visit the homes of one’s immediate family. Melburnians are evenly split with 50% (up 5%) say they should be able to visit the homes of their immediate family while a virtually unchanged 37% (down 1%) of Country Victorians say the same about residents of Melbourne – a difference of 13% points (up 6% points).

The survey was conducted four weeks after the introduction of stringent Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne and as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews this week convinced Parliament to grant him a 6 month extension to the declared State of Emergency due to expire in mid-September.

A majority of L-NP supporters favour ending three of the Stage 4 restrictions

There is a clear difference in views between supporters of different political parties with majorities of L-NP supporters in favour of ending three of the Stage 4 restrictions while majorities of ALP supporters and Greens supporters support all six restrictions continuing.

• A majority of 59% of L-NP supporters say Melburnians should now be able to visit the homes of immediate families compared to only 44% of ALP supporters and 40% of Greens supporters.
• A narrower majority of 54% of L-NP supporters say Melbourne restaurants/hotels/clubs/cafes should now be able to provide table service with proper social distancing compared to only 41% of ALP supporters and 31% of Greens supporters.
• In addition, a majority of 54% of L-NP supporters say Melbourne residents should now be able to travel more than 5km from their home compared to only 35% of ALP supporters and just 29% of Greens supporters.

Just under half of L-NP supporters (48%) say schools and day care centres should be re-opened to everybody compared to just 20% of ALP supporters and 21% of Greens supporters.

There is less of a political difference between supporters of the major parties when it comes to views on the Melbourne curfew between 8pm-5am and the compulsory wearing of masks in Melbourne.

Nearly half of L-NP supporters (45%), and slightly fewer ALP supporters (42%), say the Melbourne curfew should be ended compared to only 24% of Greens supporters.

However, large majorities of supporters of all major political parties agree mask wearing should be compulsory in Melbourne led by 92% of ALP supporters, 87% of Greens supporters and 82% of L-NP supporters.

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the mood has begun to shift in Victoria over the last week with smaller majorities of Victorians supporting Stage 4 restrictions as new cases of COVID-19 drop and the stated end of restrictions approaches on Sunday September 13 (end of next week):

Question 1:

Should Melbourne restaurants/hotels/clubs/cafes now be allowed to provide table service with proper social distancing? By Party Vote (Federal)

Source: Roy Morgan Special Snap SMS Poll of Victorians conducted on Tuesday September 1 to Wednesday September 2, 2020, n=2,062 with over 1,000 respondents each asked 3 questions. Base: Victorians aged 18+.

Question 1:
Should Melbourne restaurants/hotels/clubs/cafes now be allowed to provide table service with proper social distancing? By Gender & Age

Should Melbourne restaurants/hotels/clubs/cafes now be allowed to provide table service with proper social distancing? By Melbourne & Country Victoria

Should Melbourne restaurants/hotels/clubs/cafes now be allowed to provide table service with proper social distancing? By Party Vote (Federal)

Question 2:
Should Melbourne residents now be free to travel more than 5km from their home? By Gender & Age

Should Melbourne residents now be free to travel more than 5km from their home? By Melbourne & Country Victoria

Should Melbourne residents now be free to travel more than 5km from their home? By Party Vote (Federal)

Question 3:
At present Melbourne has a curfew from 8pm to 5am, should the curfew end now or not? By Gender & Age

At present Melbourne has a curfew from 8pm to 5am, should the curfew end now or not? By Melbourne & Country Victoria

At present Melbourne has a curfew from 8pm to 5am, should the curfew end now or not? By Party Vote (Federal)

Question 4:
Should Melbourne residents now be able to visit the homes of their immediate families? By Party Vote (Federal)

Source: Roy Morgan Special Snap SMS Poll of Victorians conducted on Tuesday September 1 to Wednesday September 2, 2020, n=2,062 with over 1,000 respondents each asked 3 questions. Base: Victorians aged 18+.

Should Melbourne residents now be able to visit the homes of their immediate families? By Gender & Age

Should Melbourne residents now be able to visit the homes of their immediate families? By Melbourne & Country Victoria

Should Melbourne residents now be able to visit the homes of their immediate families? By Party Vote (Federal)

Question 5:
Should wearing masks in Victoria be compulsory or not? By Gender & Age

Should wearing masks in Victoria be compulsory or not? By Melbourne & Country Victoria

Should wearing masks in Victoria be compulsory or not? By Party Vote (Federal)

Question 6:

Should schools and day care centres in Melbourne be re-opened to everybody? By Gender & Age

Should schools and day care centres in Melbourne be re-opened to everybody? By Melbourne & Country Victoria

Should schools and day care centres in Melbourne be re-opened to everybody? By Party Vote (Federal)

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