Two polls show metropolitan Chinese Australians prefer Coalition

Two major polls on China language websites show an overwhelming support for the Coalition.

China Town celebrates Chinese New Year in Sydney. Picture; City of Sydney.

Metropolitan Chinese Australian voters overwhelmingly prefer the Coalition over Labor, according to two major polls published on leading Chinese language websites in Australia.

The two recent online polls, with a total sample size of nearly 4500 people, were conducted separately by the Sydney Today Chinese website and Oursteps.com, a Chinese forum. Both indicate a Coalition landslide as the latest Newspoll shows a tightening race three weeks before the polling day.

Asking its registered users which party they would vote for in a primary vote in the upcoming federal election, the Oursteps poll shows that only 19.71% of participants pick Labor, far behind the Coalition, with 51.22%.

By 10pm Monday, the ongoing poll had surveyed 2866 people, of which 82.5% claim to be eligible voters.

However Andy Liu from Artarmon on Sydney’s lower north shore Artarmon told The Australian that he didn’t believe the Oursteps poll truly reflected the overall voting trend of Chinese Australians, suggesting that its main participants were “white collars in big cities, with average age over 40 years old”.

“The majority of Chinese voters falling in this age group work as professionals, and they are not very impressed by Labor.” Mr Liu said.

The poll also shows 2.27% of participants support the Greens, 0.59% for One Nation, 1.5% for “other minor parties” and 1.4% for independents, while 5.83% declared a “vote for no one or invalid voting”.

Another Chinese poll by Sydney Today shows that by 4pm on Monday, among 1443 Chinese Australian eligible voters, which makes up 64.49% of all participants in this group, 61.54% will vote for the Coalition and 28.41% for Labor.

The more comprehensive poll listed the economy, taxation and foreign relations/diplomacy as three priority policy areas for Chinese Australians; it also shows 55.5% voters said good relations with the Chinese Australian community would not determine their votes.

Although neither polls may be as statistically accurate as the mainstream poll, they add to an intense debate on the election in the community, with both parties campaigning hard for the migrant vote in key marginal city seats, like Reid, Banks, Bennelong in Sydney and Chisholm in Melbourne.

Chinese Australian voter who only wants to be named as “Michael” told the Australian that he believes the Sydney Today’s poll in favour of the Coalition should be objective enough, because “there are more conservative Chinese Australian voters”.

“Since Chinese people admire personal efforts, Liberal’s ideas fit more,” said the Canberra-based public servant who is in Australia for 20 years.

Michael’s own poll, which was conducted on social media platform WeChat of 231 Chinese Australians including voters and non-voters, however finds a different story, with Liberal trailing Labor at 38:41, while 4% choosing “others” and 17% “undecided”.