Almost 9 in 10 consumers worried about Budget

The poll was conducted last week, with 1,244 Australian businesspeople and 1,891 Australian electors surveyed.

Despite their preferred party in power, 72 per cent of Liberal supporters were worried. However, 97 per cent of Labor and Greens supporters were worried.

Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan Research, said the results were overwhelming.

“In terms of Australian consumers, Liberal supporters are the most hopeful concerning the federal Budget – 28 per cent believe the Budget will benefit them and their families compared to only 3.0 per cent of ALP supporters and Greens supporters," she said.

“However, this leaves a large majority of Liberal supporters saying the Budget will not benefit them and their families and an almost unanimous 97 per cent of ALP and Green supporters who also feel they will get no benefit out of Treasurer Joe Hockey’s first federal Budget.”

Ms Levine also noted that businesses of different sizes had different expectations from the Budget.

“Although Australian businesses also clearly have a negative perception of the federal Budget – only 23 per cent expect next week’s Budget to benefit their businesses – there is a clear differential between larger businesses of over 200 employees and smaller businesses," she said.

“Nearly a third of larger businesses believe the Budget will benefit their businesses compared to only 20 per cent of micro businesses (under five employees).”