Abstract

This paper explores how Australians view political parties and the role of government in the lead-up to the 2025 Federal Election, drawing on nationally representative survey data collected in October 2024 and January/February 2025 as part of the ANU 2925 Election Monitoring Survey Series. The analysis reveals a politically disengaged electorate with few signs of deep ideological commitment to major parties or their leaders. 

The paper also examines attitudes toward taxation and public expenditure. Australians are increasingly reluctant to support new spending, even as very few believe they pay too little tax. While partisan differences in spending priorities persist, the electorate as a whole appears more cautious. Overall, the findings suggest an electorate that is neither deeply polarised nor highly enthusiastic, but instead uncertain, ambivalent, and shaped by broader moods of optimism and pessimism. These sentiments, rather than clear ideological divides, may play an outsized role in shaping the outcome of the 2025 election

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