Excerpt from the Essential Report on 31 May 2010:
Media Coverage of Politicians' Private Live
Q. There have been some recent situations where a politician has resigned from their position or their party after some aspects of their sexual behaviour were made public by the media. Is it appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure's private life?
A majority (54%) believe it is appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure's personal life in some or all circumstances. 12% think details should be revealed in all circumstances and 42% in some circumstances. 38% say details of a political figure's personal life should not be revealed at all. 64% of Liberal/National voters and 50% of Labor voters approved revealing details of political figure's personal life in some or all circumstances. Greens voters were split 50% some/all, 50% not at all. There were no substantial demographic differences.
If answered "in some circumstances" –
Q. Is it appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure's private life in any of the following circumstances?
The majority of those who approved revealing details in some circumstances agreed that details could be revealed where there is a public interest due to impact on the politician's work or taxpayers' resources (92%) or where the politician has acted in a way clearly at odds with their publicly expressed views (88%). However, revealing details where a politician's personal choices are unusual or not considered mainstream was only acceptable to 20%.
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