Essential Report
Most beneficial country to strengthen our relationship with
Q. Given the choice between the United States of America and China, with which country do you think it would be most beneficial for Australia to strengthen our relationship?
Jun’21 | May’20 | Aug’19 | |
United States of America | 57% | 42% | 38% |
China | 14% | 18% | 28% |
Neither | 15% | 24% | 18% |
Don’t know | 14% | 16% | 15% |
Base (n) | 1,087 | 1,087 | 1,096 |
- 57% of Australians now think it would be most beneficial to strengthen our relationship with the US, a proportion that has been increasing since August 2019.
- Only 14% think Australia should strengthen our relationship with China over the US (a decrease from 28% in 2019). A further 15% think Australia should strengthen our relationship with neither country, and a similar proportion (14%) don’t know.
TOTAL | Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | ||||||||
Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
United States of America | 57% | 62% | 52% | 44% | 57% | 69% | 55% | 69% | 37% | 61% | ||
China | 14% | 14% | 13% | 18% | 13% | 11% | 16% | 11% | 24% | 9% | ||
Neither | 15% | 15% | 15% | 19% | 17% | 10% | 17% | 10% | 19% | 23% | ||
Don’t know | 14% | 9% | 20% | 20% | 13% | 10% | 12% | 10% | 21% | 7% | ||
Base (n) | 1,087 | 527 | 560 | 328 | 374 | 385 | 378 | 407 | 98 | 102 | ||
- Across party lines, all voters are now more likely to think we should strengthen our relationship with the US compared to last May.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
Sign up for updates
Receive the Essential Report in your inbox.Essential Tags
2PP
Abbott
ALP
Anthony Albanese
Approval of opposition leader
Approval of Tony Abbott
asylum seekers
Australian economy
Bill Shorten
Carbon Tax
climate change
coronavirus
covid-19
economy
Education
Election
EMC
environment
ER
Essential Media
Essential Report
Federal Budget
Federal Government
federal politics
Gillard
Greens
Julia Gillard
kevin rudd
Labor
Labor Party
Liberal
Liberal Party
Liberals
mining
Nationals
Opposition leader
peter lewis
Polling
polls
Prime Minister
Scott Morrison
tony abbott
two party preferred
voting
Voting intention
Recent Comments
