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.