Roy Morgan Research
November 17, 2020

54% of Victorians want border with South Australia closed

Topic: Press Release, Special Poll
Finding No: 8572
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A special Roy Morgan survey into Victoria’s COVID-19 restrictions shows a slim majority of Victorians say Premier Dan Andrews should close the Victorian border with South Australia following an outbreak of COVID-19 in Adelaide with 54% saying the border to South Australia should be closed while 46% say the border should not be closed.

There is little difference between the two regions of Victoria with 54% of Melburnians and 53% of Country Victorians saying the Victorian border to South Australia should be closed compared to 46% of Melburnians and 47% of Country Victorians who say the border should not be closed.

Support for closing the border is driven by young people with nearly two-thirds of Victorians aged under 35 (65%) wanting the Victorian border with South Australia closed compared to only 35% that want to keep the border open.

In contrast, Victorians aged 35-49 and 50-64 are evenly divided on the question with 50% in both age groups saying keep the border open and 50% saying the border should be closed.

A majority of 58% of older Victorians aged 65+ are against closing the border compared to only 42% who want the border to remain open.

A clear majority of 60% of women are in favour of closing the Victorian border to South Australia compared to only 40% who want the border to remain open while a slight majority of 53% of men don’t want the border to close compared to 47% who want the border to close.

Compared to a week ago now 59% (down 6% from a week ago) of Victorians say wearing masks should be compulsory compared to 41% (up 6%) who say it should not be compulsory.

Views on how many visitors a household should be allowed to have are relatively unchanged, but there are now nearly one-in-five Victorians 19% (up 2%) that say household should be allowed to have an unlimited number of visitors from next week while 73% (down 2%) say household visitor numbers should be limited to ten. An unchanged 8% of Victorians say household visitor numbers should be limited to fewer than ten.

Victorians surveyed were each asked the following questions to determine their attitudes towards the current Victorian Government COVID-19 directives:

  • Question 1: “Should wearing masks be compulsory or not?” Yes 59% (down 6% from a week ago) cf. No 41% (up 6%).
  • Question 2: “Next week Melbourne residents will be allowed up to ten visitors to their household. Should the number allowed be fewer than ten people, limited to ten people or be unlimited?” Fewer than ten 8% (unchanged), Limited to ten 73% (down 2%), Unlimited 19% (up 2%).
  • Question 3: “Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has labelled South Australia a COVID-19 hotspot following today's outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in Adelaide but not closed the State border. Should Victoria now close the border to South Australia or not?” Yes, close border 54% cf. No, don’t close border 46%.

This special Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey was conducted with a Victoria-wide cross-section of 1,193 Victorians aged 18+ on Monday November 16 – Tuesday November 17, 2020.

Michele Levine CEO Roy Morgan, says a slim majority of Victorians want Premier Daniel Andrews to close the Victorian border with South Australia with young people aged under 35 the most heavily in favour:

“A slim majority of 54% of Victorians want Premier Daniel Andrews to close the Victorian border with South Australia following an outbreak of COVID-19 in Adelaide – and it is young people leading the charge on border closure with the support of 65% of Victorians aged under 35 for closing the border.

“This result is not that surprising when no doubt the biggest losers out of Victoria’s prolonged lockdowns during 2020 have been young people who have been disproportionately impacted with lost employment opportunities as retail and hospitality businesses were forcibly closed during the year.

“The experience so far during 2020 shows that young people have the most to lose from lockdowns and these results show that they are keenly aware of how the likely response to another outbreak of COVID-19 would adversely impact their interests.

“Victorians aged 35-64 are split down the middle on the question with 50% in support of closing the border and 50% against, while a clear majority of 58% of Victorians aged 65+ don’t think the border should be closed.

“A clear majority of 59% of Victorians still support for the mandatory wearing of masks in the State, although this support is slipping and is down 6% points from a week ago. Again, it is young people who are most against the mandatory wearing of masks with 50% saying it should be compulsory and 50% saying it should not be compulsory. Support for the mandatory wearing of masks increases with age and 70% of Victorians aged 65+ are in favour of the mandatory mask wearing policy continuing.”

For further comment or more information contact:
Michele Levine 0411129093 or Gary Morgan 0411129094 or email
 askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.

Question 1:

Should wearing masks be compulsory or not?

Should wearing masks be compulsory or not? By Gender & Age

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

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

Question 2:

Next week Melbourne residents will be allowed up to ten visitors to their household. Should the number allowed be fewer than ten people, limited to ten people or be unlimited?

By Gender & Age

Next week Melbourne residents will be allowed up to ten visitors to their household. Should the number allowed be fewer than ten people, limited to ten people or be unlimited?

By Melbourne & Country Victoria

Next week Melbourne residents will be allowed up to ten visitors to their household. Should the number allowed be fewer than ten people, limited to ten people or be unlimited?

By Party Vote (Federal)

Question 3:

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has labelled South Australia a COVID-19 hotspot following today's outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in Adelaide but not closed the State border. Should Victoria now close the border to South Australia or not?

By Gender & Age

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has labelled South Australia a COVID-19 hotspot following today's outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in Adelaide but not closed the State border. Should Victoria now close the border to South Australia or not?

By Melbourne & Country Victoria

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has labelled South Australia a COVID-19 hotspot following today's outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in Adelaide but not closed the State border. Should Victoria now close the border to South Australia or not?

By Party Vote (Federal)

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

Sample Size Percentage Estimate
40% – 60% 25% or 75% 10% or 90% 5% or 95%
1,000 ±3.0 ±2.7 ±1.9 ±1.3
5,000 ±1.4 ±1.2 ±0.8 ±0.6
7,500 ±1.1 ±1.0 ±0.7 ±0.5
10,000 ±1.0 ±0.9 ±0.6 ±0.4
20,000 ±0.7 ±0.6 ±0.4 ±0.3
50,000 ±0.4 ±0.4 ±0.3 ±0.2

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