Secret surveys polled vaccine trust in PM

Who do you trust most? Us or the feds? What the Andrews government wanted to know about the politics of the pandemic.

Secret surveys were used to test if Victorians’ believed either the state government of Daniel Andrews (left) or federal government of Scott Morrison carried most responsibility for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Andrews government “cabinet in confidence” emails and documents reveal secret surveys were used to test if Victorians’ believed either the state or federal government carried most responsibility for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

Department of Premier and Cabinet communications reveal the Andrews government was carefully monitoring public sentiment about differences with the Morrison government over lockdown restrictions, financial support and vaccines in 2021.

‘‘Can we probe … re financial assistance during lockdowns, to understand what people think the responsibility of Fed vs State governments are in this area,” a June 9 email from a de-identified individual sent to QDOS states.

“Similarly on … Vaccinations – keen to understand if people understand the roles of State and Federal governments in the roll out of vaccinations. (In addition I think it would be useful to know if people are aware of the commentary going on about this a) in the media and b) between govts and if they are aware, how do they feel about this – what do they like or not like about it? Thank you for your patience! I look forward to viewing the recordings (of QDOS-run focus groups).”

John Armitage ran the Labor-aligned political intelligence and strategy firm QDOS. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

A draft online survey from June 2021 exchanged between the DPC and QDOS – the Labor-aligned political intelligence and strategy firm run by longtime Daniel Andrews ally John Armitage – reveals Victorians were asked to compare and rate a number of key state and federal figures out of 10 on who they trusted most to provide vaccine information: Prime minister Scott Morrison, acting premier James Merlino (Mr Andrews was recovering from his back injury), federal chief medical officer Paul Kelly, Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton, federal health minister Greg Hunt and state health minister Martin Foley.

The draft survey also proposed asking Victorians who they considered mostly responsible for the vaccine rollout: much more the federal government, more the federal government, federal and state governments equally, more the state government and much more the state government.

The draft survey then asked Victorians if they considered the state or federal government mostly responsible for communicating about the safety and effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine, and which government was mostly responsible for encouraging people to get the vaccine.

The Weekend Australian revealed that between May and October 2021, while many Australians were still locked down, QDOS embarked on extensive surveys of Victorians on views about the vaccine rollout.

Surveys covered everything from public health issues around vaccine hesitancy to more contentious issues such as the vaccine passport, which left the unvaccinated facing ongoing restrictions.

The Andrews government has refused to release the survey data and QDOS analysis flowing from the polling, claiming, in part, that they are ‘‘cabinet in confidence’’.

“The QDOS research was crucial to ensuring the Victorian government could implement the best possible public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic,’’ a DPC spokesperson said.

“Some of the documents are exempt under the Freedom of Information Act because they were prepared for the purpose of cabinet’s consideration.”

The government failed to address specific questions on why it was necessary to poll public opinion about the Morrison government. More than 130 pages of documents and emails between QDOS and the DPC have been released, revealing the firm used online surveys and focus groups to monitor public opinion on vaccine supply, safety and ongoing restrictions on the unvaccinated.

A September 6 email from a de-identified DPC official to QDOS, carrying the subject line “cabinet in confidence: draft discussion topics”, states: “Incentives: Explore attitudes towards a ‘vaccine passport’ which will open up access to dining/travel/events for those fully vaccinated. Do people understand the logistics of implementing? For government and for individual businesses?

“Is it fair? Should this be started now to give more freedoms to those vaccinated or … held off until those who want to get vaccinated have the chance to do so?’’