20 August 2012, 200812, asylum seekers, detention centre facilities, federal government recommendations, humanitarian program, manu, nauru, refugees
Q. An expert panel appointed by the Federal Government has made a number of recommendations for handling asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat. Do you approve or disapprove of the following recommendations?
|
Total approve |
Total disapprove |
Strongly approve |
Approve |
Dis-approve |
Strongly disapprove |
Don’t know |
|
| Expanding Australia’s humanitarian program immediately from 13,500 places per year to 20,000 |
42% |
46% |
13% |
29% |
20% |
26% |
12% |
| Limiting the ways refugees who have arrived by boat can bring their families to Australia |
72% |
18% |
40% |
32% |
11% |
7% |
11% |
| Reopening detention facilities in Nauru and Manus Islands |
67% |
18% |
36% |
31% |
11% |
7% |
14% |
| Detaining offshore refugees who have arrived by boat for several years |
47% |
39% |
26% |
21% |
22% |
17% |
13% |
| Pursuing a people swap deal with Malaysia as the basis for a regional solution |
30% |
47% |
11% |
19% |
22% |
25% |
23% |
| Consider turning back boats in the future but only if special conditions are met |
66% |
21% |
35% |
31% |
11% |
10% |
13% |
There was strong majority approval of the recommendations to limit the ways refugees who have arrived by boat can bring their families to Australia (72%), reopen detention facilities in Nauru and Manus Islands (67%) and consider turning back boats (66%). Respondents were a little more in favour of detaining offshore refugees for several years (47% approve/39% disapprove) and divided over expanding Australia’s humanitarian program (42%/46%). 47% disapproved of pursuing a people swap deal with Malaysia as the basis for a regional solution.
48% of Labor voters and 81% of Greens voters approved expanding Australia’s humanitarian aid but 54% of Liberal/National voters disapproved.
48% of Labor voters approved pursuing a people swap deal with Malaysia but 59% of Liberal/National voters disapproved.
45% of Labor voters and 81% of Liberal/National voters approved turning back boats but 56% of Greens voters disapproved.
Men favoured detaining refugees for several years (58% approve/31% disapprove while women were more likely to be opposed (38% approve/46% disapprove).