Essential Report
Concern about military conflict with China
Q. In the past month, diplomatic tensions between Australia and China have increased, with Australia investing $750M to improve Australian Defence Force training facilities in the Northern Territory and Defence Minister Peter Dutton saying that a war with China over Taiwan should not “be discounted”.
To what extent are you concerned about Australia engaging in a military conflict with China in the near future?
Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
Extremely concerned | 18% | 18% | 18% | 11% | 21% | 21% | 18% | 18% | 23% | 17% | ||
Very concerned | 21% | 22% | 21% | 20% | 23% | 21% | 21% | 21% | 22% | 27% | ||
Fairly concerned | 36% | 32% | 39% | 43% | 29% | 36% | 38% | 35% | 25% | 36% | ||
Not very concerned | 19% | 21% | 17% | 19% | 20% | 18% | 19% | 18% | 25% | 19% | ||
Not at all concerned | 6% | 8% | 5% | 7% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 8% | 5% | 1% | ||
TOTAL: Concerned | 39% | 40% | 39% | 31% | 44% | 41% | 39% | 39% | 45% | 44% | ||
TOTAL: Not concerned | 25% | 28% | 22% | 26% | 27% | 23% | 23% | 26% | 31% | 21% | ||
Base (n) | 1,092 | 536 | 556 | 340 | 372 | 380 | 371 | 400 | 109 | 111 | ||
- 39% of Australians are concerned about Australia engaging in a military conflict with China in the near future, with 18% extremely concerned. 36% are fairly concerned, and a quarter (25%) are not concerned.
- Those 18-34 are less likely to be concerned about this than older cohorts (31% to 44% of those 35-54 and 41% those over 55).

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