Macquarie Poll – Gonski Still A Winner !

The election result in Macquarie is on a knife-edge, according to a new poll commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation.

The poll conducted by ReachTel on April 19 found both the Labor and Liberal Parties with a two-party preferred vote of 50 per cent.

The Liberal Party’s primary vote is sitting at 36 per with Labor behind on 24.6 per cent. The Greens primary vote is 15.1 per cent in Macquarie, according to the poll.

Undecided voters are leaning towards the Liberal Party (52 per cent), compared to Labor (21.3 per cent). However, Greens and independent voters are far more likely to give their preferences to Labor (75.4 per cent) over the Liberals (24.6 per cent).

The NSW Teachers Federation commissioned the polling in six NSW federal electorates to gauge opinions on the Gonski funding issue.

In Macquarie, 36 per cent of voters said they would be less likely to vote for the Coalition if it didn’t continue the Gonski funding. Fifty-eight per cent of Macquarie voters said education was “very important” to them in the federal election.

“Parents and teachers are very clear about the positive impact they see from Gonski needs-based funding and they want it to continue,” said NSW Teachers Federation President Maurie Mulheron.

He said voters now clearly understood they were misled by the Coalition during the last election campaign when Tony Abbott promised to fund the Gonski program but backed away from doing so once he became prime minister.

“There is now a very clear difference between Labor, which has said it backs extra Gonski funding and the Coalition, which has failed to honour its previous commitment,” Mr Mulheron said.