Support for Malaysia Proposal
Q. Do you support or oppose the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Heard a lot | Heard something | Heard a little/ nothing | |
| Total support | 40% | 47% | 40% | 27% | 34% | 42% | 46% |
| Total oppose | 39% | 33% | 45% | 51% | 60% | 39% | 28% |
| Strongly support | 13% | 13% | 15% | 4% | 14% | 11% | 15% |
| Support | 27% | 34% | 25% | 23% | 20% | 31% | 31% |
| Oppose | 22% | 21% | 24% | 31% | 26% | 24% | 20% |
| Strongly oppose | 17% | 12% | 21% | 20% | 34% | 15% | 8% |
| Don’t know | 21% | 20% | 14% | 23% | 6% | 19% | 27% |
40% support the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Malaysia and 39% oppose.
Those who say they have heard more about it are more likely to oppose this proposal. Only 34% of those who have heard a lot about it support the proposal compared to 46% of those who have heard a little or nothing. There were not substantial differences by gender or age.
Malaysia Proposal Issues
Q. If Australia sends asylum seekers to Malaysia, how important are the following issues?
| Very important | Somewhat important | Not very important | Not at all important | Don’t know | |
| There must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment | 58% | 21% | 9% | 9% | 4% |
| There must be safeguards against the development of mental health problems in detention | 41% | 32% | 13% | 9% | 5% |
| The plan should have approval from the United Nations | 37% | 29% | 14% | 15% | 6% |
| All countries involved should be signatories to the United Nations Refugee Convention | 41% | 27% | 13% | 12% | 8% |
| Children arriving in Australia on their own should not be sent to other countries | 36% | 25% | 14% | 12% | 12% |
All issues were considered important by a majority of respondents. The most important issue concerning the proposal to send asylum seekers to Malaysia was that “there must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment” – 58% said this was very important.
There were major differences by gender – in particular on the issues that “there must be a guarantee that asylum seekers are not be subject to cruel or inhumane treatment” (very important – men 49%, women 66%) and “There must be safeguards against the development of mental health problems in detention” (very important – men 33%, women 49%)
So where is the Left?
First Published on The Drum 26/10/2010
If political progressives want to stop the ALP from drifting to the Right, energetically backing the decision to move women and children out of immigration detention looks like a good place to start.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Immigration minister Chris Bowen took the new minority government’s first truly brave decision last week, yet all they got was a sullen acceptance from a Left still acting like jilted lovers after the disappointments of the election campaign.
Moving children out of detention centres
Q. Do you approve or disapprove of the Federal Government’s decision to move children and their families out of immigration detention centres and allow them to live in the community while their cases are being processed?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | |
| Total approve | 33% | 42% | 24% | 63% |
| Total disapprove | 53% | 45% | 67% | 28% |
| Strongly approve | 11% | 15% | 4% | 39% |
| Approve | 22% | 27% | 20% | 24% |
| Disapprove | 24% | 22% | 29% | 12% |
| Strongly disapprove | 29% | 23% | 38% | 16% |
| Don’t know | 13% | 13% | 9% | 8% |
53% disapproved the Federal Government’s decision to move children and their families out of immigration detention centres and allow them to live in the community while their cases are being processed and 33% approved.
63% of Greens voters approved, 67% of Liberal/National voters disapproved and Labor voters were split 42% approve/45% disapprove.
By gender – men 38% approve/50% disapprove, women 28% approve/57% disapprove.
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