Australian troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
Jun 2010 |
May 2011 |
Nov 2011 |
Mar 2012 |
Sept 2012 |
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan |
7% |
6% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
2% |
2% |
2% |
– |
||
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan |
24% |
36% |
22% |
22% |
23% |
16% |
14% |
22% |
11% |
||
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan |
61% |
48% |
64% |
64% |
62% |
69% |
72% |
64% |
70% |
||
Don’t know |
8% |
11% |
11% |
10% |
11% |
13% |
12% |
12% |
19% |
Support for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan increased to 69% from 62% last September. Support for increasing or maintaining troops in Afghanistan dropped from 27% to 18%.
65% of men and 73% of women favour withdrawal of troops.
Support for withdrawing Australian troops has increased for all voter groups – up 12 points to 72% for Labor voters, up 6 points to 64% for Liberal/National voters and up 5 points to 70% for Greens voters.
Troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
21 Jun 2010 |
9 May 2011 |
21 Nov 2011 |
19 Mar 2012 |
This week 10 Sept 2012 |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan |
7% |
6% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
5% |
6% |
3% |
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan |
24% |
36% |
22% |
22% |
23% |
23% |
27% |
20% |
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan |
61% |
48% |
64% |
64% |
62% |
60% |
58% |
65% |
Don’t know |
8% |
11% |
11% |
10% |
11% |
12% |
9% |
12% |
There is little change in respondents’ positions on troops in Afghanistan. Compared to the last time the question was polled six months ago in March 2012, 4% still believe that we should increase the number of troops. Belief that we should maintain the same number of troops increased 1% to 23% and belief that we should withdraw troops fell just 2 points from 64% in March 2012 to 62%.
Looking at the results by voting intention, Coalition voters were the most in favour of maintaining troop numbers (27%) compared to Labor voters (23%) and Greens voters (20%). Greens voters were the most likely to want to withdraw troops from Afghanistan (65%) when compared with Labor voters (60%) and Coalition voters (58%).
Troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
25 Oct 2010 |
21 Mar 2011 |
29 Aug |
21 Nov |
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan |
10% |
5% |
4% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
6% |
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan |
30% |
30% |
26% |
22% |
22% |
21% |
27% |
18% |
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan |
47% |
56% |
64% |
64% |
64% |
64% |
62% |
69% |
Don’t know |
14% |
9% |
7% |
11% |
10% |
11% |
7% |
6% |
64% (no change since November 2011) think Australia should withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, 22% (no change) think we should maintain troop numbers and 4% (up 1%) think we should increase them.
In the past 12 months, support for withdrawal of Australian troops has increased from 56% to 64%. There was majority support for withdrawal by all voting groups – 62% of Lib/Nat voters, 64% Labor and 69% Greens. Support for withdrawal was 71% among people aged 55+ and women were more likely than men to support withdrawal of troops (69% to 59%).
Australian troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
25 Oct 2010 | 21 Mar 2011 | 29 Aug 2011 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan | 10% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 3% |
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan | 30% | 30% | 26% | 22% | 21% | 29% | 11% |
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan | 47% | 56% | 64% | 64% | 66% | 57% | 76% |
Don’t know | 14% | 9% | 7% | 11% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
64% (no change) think Australia should withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, 22% (down 4%) think we should maintain troop numbers and 3% (down 1%) think we should increase them.
Since October last year, support for withdrawal of Australian troops has increased from 47% to 64%. There was majority support for withdrawal by all voting groups – 57% of Lib/Nat voters, 66% Labor and 76% Greens. Support for withdrawal was also similar across age groups but women were more likely than men to support withdrawal of troops (72% to 55%).
Australian troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
25 Oct 2010 | 21 Mar 2011 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan | 10% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 3% | 3% |
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan | 30% | 30% | 26% | 26% | 32% | 15% |
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan | 47% | 56% | 64% | 61% | 60% | 75% |
Don’t know | 14% | 9% | 7% | 7% | 5% | 6% |
64% (up 8%) think Australia should withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, 26% (down 4%) think we should maintain troop numbers and 4% (down 1%) think we should increase them.
Since October last year, support for withdrawal of Australian troops has increased from 47% to 64%. There was majority support for withdrawal by all voting groups – 60% of Lib/Nat voters, 61% labor and 75% Greens. Support for withdrawal was also similar across age, gender and income.
Troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
25 Oct 10 | 21 Mar 11 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan | 10% | 5% | 6% | 4% | 8% | 1% |
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan | 30% | 30% | 36% | 37% | 43% | 25% |
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan | 47% | 56% | 48% | 49% | 41% | 65% |
Don’t know | 14% | 9% | 11% | 10% | 8% | 9% |
42% think that the Australian troops in Afghanistan should be increased or maintained and 48% think Australia should withdraw its troops. This is a significant drop (-8%) in support for withdrawal since this question was last asked in March.
Troops in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
25 Oct 2010 | Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan | 10% | 5% | 7% | 6% | 1% |
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan | 30% | 30% | 26% | 39% | 16% |
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan | 47% | 56% | 62% | 48% | 74% |
Don’t know | 14% | 9% | 5% | 7% | 9% |
35% think that the Australian troops in Afghanistan should be increased or maintained and 56% think Australia should withdraw its troops. This is a significant shift (+9%) in favour of withdrawal since this question was last asked in October 2010.
62% of Labor voters and 74% of Greens voters support withdrawal. Liberal/National voters are split – 48% support withdrawal and 45 support increasing/maintaining troop numbers.
Males were more likely than females to state that Australia should increase the number of troops in Afghanistan (9% compared to 2% of females) or keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan (36% compared to 24% of females).
However, the majority of both males (49%) and females (63%) think Australia should withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
War in Afghanistan
Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should –
Total
25 Oct 10 |
Labor | Liberal | Greens | 30 March 09 | 21 June 10 | 11 Oct 10 | ||
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan |
10% |
10% |
12% |
10% |
14% |
7% |
13% |
|
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan |
30% |
31% |
34% |
23% |
24% |
24% |
24% |
|
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan | 47% | 49% | 45% | 55% | 50% | 61% | 49% | |
Don’t know | 14% | 10% | 8% | 12% | 12% | 8% | 14% |
47% say Australia should withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, 30% say we should keep the same number and 10% say we should increase troop numbers. The support for keeping the same number of troops in Afghanistan has increased by 6% since previous surveys.
Support for withdrawal is highest among Greens voters (55%) and those on higher incomes (54% of those earning over $1,600 per week).
Support for maintaining or increasing troop numbers is highest among Liberal/National voters (46%), men (46%) and those aged 55+ (48%).