The why behind the what: qualitative polling on federal voting intentions

Most polling tells you what might happen. Qualitative polling tells you the why - what motivates respondents, not just what they are doing.
About this Event

For 25 years Graham Young has been using the Internet to ask Australians why they vote the way they do. He has a community of almost 7,000 Australians of all political persuasions who share their views with him.

The results are often stunning.

For example, while virtually everyone was predicting Campbell Newman to win in 2015, Graham predicted Annastacia Palaszczuk. It was there in the research but everyone ignored it.

This function will be based on his latest polling where 1,053 Australians told him how they would vote if there were a federal election next weekend, and why. A similar poll conducted in January said that roughly half those who consider themselves Coalition voters are actually now planning to vote for One Nation, and many of these voters are extremely well-informed, unlike the stereotype.

But they're not necessarily voting for One Nation because they think it can win, or even because they want it to win.

Come along for an evening of wine food and conversation, and some very sharp analysis that you won't get anywhere else.

Graham Young is a respected analyst who understands political campaigns better than most because he has actually run them. A three time candidate himself, he was Campaign Chairman of the Queensland Liberal Party between 1994 and 1997, a period when they won a state and federal election. He was a strategist in Campbell Newman's 2004 win in the Brisbane City Council election.

As the Executive Director of the Australian Institute for Progress he now directs issue campaigns during elections rather than getting candidates elected. His analysis has been published by the Courier Mail, the Australian, the Australian Financial Review, and for years he was a regular panellist on ABC Brisbane talking about polling and politics in general.