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Attitudes towards the dispute between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau

9 Jul 2019

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding the ongoing dispute between Israel Folau and Rugby Australia?

NET: Agree NET: Disagree Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know
Israel Folau chose to share his religious views on social media and should take responsibility for them 68% 7% 45% 23% 15% 4% 3% 10%
Israel Folau has used his public profile to attack a minority group in the community 51% 20% 33% 18% 17% 10% 10% 13%
The actions of Israel Folau have caused damage to the Wallabies team and rugby in Australia 46% 21% 25% 20% 21% 11% 10% 12%
Israel Folau has the right to voice his religious views, regardless of the hurt it could cause others 34% 36% 16% 18% 20% 15% 20% 10%
  • A majority of Australians agreed that ‘Israel Folau chose to share his religious views on social media and should take responsibility for them’ and that ‘Israel Folau has used his public profile to attack a minority group in the community’.
Q       NET: Agree Gender Age
Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+
Israel Folau chose to share his religious views on social media and should take responsibility for them 68% 69% 67% 55% 66% 81%
Israel Folau has used his public profile to attack a minority group in the community 51% 48% 54% 42% 49% 59%
The actions of Israel Folau have caused damage to the Wallabies team and rugby in Australia 46% 45% 47% 44% 45% 48%
Israel Folau has the right to voice his religious views, regardless of the hurt it could cause others 34% 38% 30% 35% 33% 34%
  • 81% of over 55s agreed that ‘Israel Folau chose to share his religious views on social media, and should take responsibility for them’, compared to 66% of 35 to 54 year olds and 55% of 18 to 34 year olds. These groups were more likely to select ‘Don’t know’.
  • Similarly, 59% of over 55s agreed that ‘Israel Folau has used his public profile to attack a minority group in the community’ compared to 42% of 18 to 34 year olds. Younger Australians were more likely to select ‘Don’t know (19% to 7% of over 55s).
  • 38% of men agreed that ‘Israel Folau has the right to voice his religious views, regardless of the hurt it could cause others’, while only 30% of women agreed.
  • Coalition voters were more likely than Labor or Greens voters to agree that ‘Israel Folau has the right to voice his religious views, regardless of the hurt it could cause others’. 41% of Coalition voters agreed, while 30% of Labor voters and 20% of Greens voters did so.
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