An exclusive SBS opinion poll has found a large percentage of voters are uninspired by the leaders of all major parties, with half unable to identify a leader who can be "trusted to do what he says". More than half of those polled also didn’t know which leader inspired them about the future.
The poll, commissioned by SBS and conducted by research group Essential Media, asked voters to choose which leaders certain indicators of leadership applied to.
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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull outpolled Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in most questions, including when voters were asked to identify a leader they respect. Twenty-six per cent chose Mr Turnbull, compared with 16 per cent for Mr Shorten.
On the question of having "good values and principles," Mr Turnbull beat Mr Shorten, 26 per cent to 19 per cent.
While a large percentage (54 per cent) didn’t know which leader inspired them, 22 per cent chose Mr Turnbull over Mr Shorten with 13 per cent.
"The reality is that a lot of people don't really follow politics closely and are unaware of the personalities," Essential Media's Peter Lewis said.
"What's interesting about this SBS Essential Poll is that we've got two major parties and three other parties out there and the level of trust and engagement with those leaders really varies."
The prime minister also outpolled Mr Shorten on the question of whether or not he can "get things done," garnering 26 per cent of the votes compared with 18 per cent for Mr Shorten and just 5 per cent for Greens leader Richard Di Natale.
Mr Di Natale didn’t score highly across most characteristics but Mr Lewis said that could suggest something wider about Greens voters.
"Greens voters are the one group who really say they are more interested in the policy than the personal attributes of their leader so I guess for Richard Di Natale that is a bit of a protective shield around any of those perceived low levels of popularity in that Greens voters are more interested in policy than the leader," he said.
Mr Shorten and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon outpolled the Prime Minister on the question of being a leader who "stands up for people". The opposition leader received 26 per cent, Mr Xenophon 23 per cent and Mr Turnbull 20 per cent.
South Australian Senator Mr Xenophon rated ahead of National Party leader Barnaby Joyce and Mr Di Natale on key measures of leadership, indicating his efforts to spread his influence beyond South Australia could be working.
"[Nick Xenophon] is really up there with the major leaders," Mr Lewis said.
"If you look at it, you've got your two major leaders with about a third public support and then you've got Nick Xenophon with quite surprisingly high levels of trust."
Mr Xenophon was also rated ahead of Mr Joyce and Mr Di Natale in all measures of the survey, including questions about whether or not they "control their own party," and "can be trusted to do what he says".
While Essential Media tried to get a snapshot of the nation, the response rate and coverage for the online polls means an accurate section of Australia could not be ensured.
