Importance of international relationships
Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?
| Very import-ant | Quite import-ant | Not very import-ant | Don’t know | Very impor-tant
Mar 11 |
Very import-ant
Nov 13 |
Very import-ant
Oct 14 |
Very import-ant
Feb 15 |
Change | ||
| United States | 44% | 41% | 8% | 8% | 60% | 59% | 53% | 44% | – | |
| China | 39% | 44% | 6% | 10% | 48% | 54% | 44% | 41% | -2 | |
| United Kingdom | 39% | 43% | 9% | 10% | 56% | 48% | 48% | 38% | +1 | |
| Japan | 31% | 52% | 6% | 11% | 39% | 35% | 31% | 30% | +1 | |
| Canada | 24% | 45% | 18% | 13% | na | na | 26% | 22% | +2 | |
| India | 22% | 47% | 17% | 14% | 26% | 26% | 22% | 20% | +2 | |
| Indonesia | 21% | 40% | 27% | 12% | 31% | 40% | 32% | 22% | -1 | |
| Germany | 20% | 47% | 19% | 14% | 23% | 20% | 22% | 18% | +2 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 14% | 40% | 30% | 16% | na | na | 17% | 12% | +2 | |
| Russia | 13% | 38% | 33% | 16% | na | na | 16% | 11% | +2 |
44% of respondents think it is very important to have a close relationship with the United States and 39% think it is very important to have a close relationship with China and the United Kingdom. Relations with Russia (13%) and Saudi Arabia (14%) were thought to be the least important.
A close relationship with the United States is considered very important by 51% of Liberal/National voters, 48% of Labor voters and 29% of Greens voters.
Since this question was asked in February, there has been little change in importance of relations for all countries.
Trust in the Government’s handling of international relations
Q. How much trust do you have in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
Nov 2013 |
Jun 2014 |
Oct 2014 |
|
| Total a lot/some |
33% |
13% |
66% |
12% |
21% |
41% |
35% |
40% |
||
| Total little/no trust |
62% |
84% |
31% |
85% |
71% |
53% |
59% |
53% |
||
| A lot of trust |
12% |
2% |
28% |
– |
7% |
20% |
17% |
17% |
||
| Some trust |
21% |
11% |
38% |
12% |
14% |
21% |
18% |
23% |
||
| A little trust |
22% |
23% |
23% |
19% |
21% |
18% |
16% |
18% |
||
| No trust |
40% |
61% |
8% |
66% |
50% |
35% |
43% |
35% |
||
| Don’t know |
5% |
2% |
4% |
2% |
8% |
7% |
5% |
6% |
Overall, 33% (down 7% since October) have a lot or some trust in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations and 62% (up 9%) have a little or no trust. Only 12% (down 5%) have “a lot of trust” and 40% (up 5%) have no trust.
Labor (61%) and Greens (66%) voters were far more likely to have ‘no trust’. 28% Liberal/National voters have “a lot of trust”- down from 44% in October.
Trust in the Government’s handling of international relations
Q. How much trust do you have in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
Nov 2013 |
Jun 2014 |
Oct 2014 |
|
| Total a lot/some |
38% |
15% |
79% |
7% |
24% |
41% |
35% |
40% |
||
| Total little/no trust |
57% |
82% |
19% |
93% |
75% |
53% |
59% |
53% |
||
| A lot of trust |
15% |
2% |
38% |
– |
4% |
20% |
17% |
17% |
||
| Some trust |
23% |
13% |
41% |
7% |
20% |
21% |
18% |
23% |
||
| A little trust |
20% |
22% |
16% |
18% |
28% |
18% |
16% |
18% |
||
| No trust |
37% |
60% |
3% |
75% |
47% |
35% |
43% |
35% |
||
| Don’t know |
6% |
4% |
2% |
1% |
2% |
7% |
5% |
6% |
15% of people have “a lot of trust” in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations.
37% have no trust.
Labor (60%) and Greens (75%) voters were far more likely to have ‘no trust’. Liberal/National voters were far less likely (3%) to have no trust. 38% of Liberal/National voters have “a lot of trust”.
Since this question was asked in October, those saying they have a lot or some trust has decreased by 2% and those saying they have little/no trust increased by 4%.
Importance of international relationships
Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?
|
Very |
Quite |
Not very |
Don’t know |
|
Very Mar 11 |
Very Nov 13 |
Very Jun 14 |
Change |
|
| United States |
53% |
37% |
5% |
4% |
60% |
59% |
57% |
-4 |
|
| United Kingdom |
48% |
41% |
7% |
4% |
56% |
48% |
48% |
– |
|
| China |
44% |
45% |
6% |
6% |
48% |
54% |
46% |
-2 |
|
| Indonesia |
32% |
46% |
15% |
7% |
31% |
40% |
35% |
-3 |
|
| Japan |
31% |
51% |
11% |
7% |
39% |
35% |
32% |
-1 |
|
| Canada |
26% |
47% |
20% |
7% |
na |
na |
28% |
-2 |
|
| India |
22% |
46% |
24% |
8% |
26% |
26% |
23% |
-1 |
|
| Germany |
22% |
43% |
27% |
8% |
23% |
20% |
21% |
+1 |
|
| Saudi Arabia |
17% |
38% |
35% |
10% |
na |
na |
na |
na |
|
| Russia |
16% |
39% |
37% |
8% |
na |
na |
na |
na |
More than half the respondents think it is very important to have close relationships with the United States (53%). Relations with Russia (16%) and Saudi Arabia (17%) were thought to be the least important.
A close relationship with the United States is considered very important by 67% of Liberal/National voters, 50% of Labor voters and 41% of Greens voters.
Since this question was last asked in June, there has been a 4% decrease in the rating of the importance of relations with the United States.
Trust in the Government’s handling of international relations
Q. How much trust do you have in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
Nov 2013 |
Jun 2014 |
|
| Total a lot/some |
40% |
16% |
82% |
19% |
26% |
41% |
35% |
||
| Total little/no trust |
53% |
81% |
15% |
80% |
71% |
53% |
59% |
||
| A lot of trust |
17% |
1% |
44% |
2% |
8% |
20% |
17% |
||
| Some trust |
23% |
15% |
38% |
17% |
18% |
21% |
18% |
||
| A little trust |
18% |
24% |
13% |
10% |
20% |
18% |
16% |
||
| No trust |
35% |
57% |
2% |
70% |
51% |
35% |
43% |
||
| Don’t know |
6% |
3% |
3% |
1% |
2% |
7% |
5% |
17% of people have “a lot of trust” in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations.
35% have no trust.
Labor (57%) and Greens (70%) voters were far more likely to have ‘no trust’. Liberal/National voters were far less likely (2%) to have no trust. 44% of Liberal/National voters have “a lot of trust”.
Since this question was asked in June, those saying they have a lot or some trust has increased by 5% and those saying they have no trust decreased by 6% – a similar position to the poll in November last year.
Trust in the Government’s handling of international relations
Q. How much trust do you have in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other |
|
9 Oct 13 |
26 Nov 13 |
|
| Total a lot/some trust |
36% |
12% |
75% |
13% |
25% |
41% |
41% |
||
| Total little/no trust |
55% |
83% |
21% |
81% |
66% |
53% |
53% |
||
| A lot of trust |
14% |
2% |
38% |
3% |
4% |
18% |
20% |
||
| Some trust |
22% |
10% |
37% |
10% |
21% |
23% |
21% |
||
| A little trust |
21% |
26% |
17% |
19% |
25% |
16% |
18% |
||
| No trust |
34% |
57% |
4% |
62% |
41% |
37% |
35% |
||
| Don’t know |
9% |
5% |
3% |
6% |
9% |
7% |
7% |
14% of people have “a lot of trust” in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations – down 6% since November.
34% have no trust.
Labor (57%) and Greens (62%) voters were far more likely to have ‘no trust’. Liberal/National voters were far less likely (4%) to have no trust. 38% of Liberal/National voters have “a lot of trust”.
Since this question was asked in November, “total trust” has dropped from 41% to 36%.
Importance of international relationships
Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?
|
Very import-ant |
Quite import-ant |
Not very import-ant |
Don’t know |
Very import- 28 Mar 11 |
Very import- 29 Oct 12 |
Very import-ant 26 Nov 13 |
Change |
|
| New Zealand |
61% |
30% |
6% |
4% |
69% |
54% |
54% |
+7 |
| United States |
57% |
33% |
6% |
4% |
60% |
55% |
59% |
-2 |
| United Kingdom |
48% |
38% |
10% |
4% |
56% |
47% |
48% |
– |
| China |
46% |
41% |
8% |
4% |
48% |
45% |
54% |
-8 |
| Indonesia |
35% |
43% |
16% |
6% |
31% |
33% |
40% |
-5 |
| Japan |
32% |
51% |
12% |
5% |
39% |
31% |
35% |
-3 |
| Canada |
28% |
40% |
25% |
7% |
na |
na |
na |
na |
| India |
23% |
42% |
29% |
7% |
26% |
26% |
26% |
-3 |
| Germany |
21% |
41% |
31% |
7% |
23% |
20% |
20% |
+1 |
More than half the respondents think it is very important to have close relationships with New Zealand (61%) and the United States (57%).
A close relationship with the United States is considered very important by 64% of Liberal/National voters, 58% of Labor voters and 43% of Greens voters.
Since this question was last asked in November, the largest increase in the rating of the importance of relations was with New Zealand (+7). Importance of relations with China (-8) and Indonesia (-5) has declined.
Government handling of issues
Q. How would you rate the Federal Liberal-National Government for the way they have handled the following issues?
|
Total good |
Total poor |
Net score |
Very good |
Good |
Average |
Poor |
Very poor |
Don’t know |
|
| Managing the economy |
34% |
31% |
+3 |
12% |
22% |
29% |
16% |
15% |
6% |
| Treatment of asylum seekers |
37% |
36% |
+1 |
18% |
19% |
18% |
11% |
25% |
9% |
| Relations with other countries |
29% |
32% |
-3 |
8% |
21% |
30% |
13% |
19% |
8% |
| Education and schools |
28% |
35% |
-7 |
6% |
22% |
28% |
19% |
16% |
8% |
| Supporting Australian businesses |
27% |
34% |
-7 |
8% |
19% |
31% |
18% |
16% |
8% |
| Protecting the environment |
26% |
36% |
-10 |
7% |
19% |
28% |
14% |
22% |
9% |
| Social welfare |
27% |
39% |
-12 |
8% |
19% |
26% |
17% |
22% |
8% |
| Industrial relations |
26% |
38% |
-12 |
9% |
17% |
27% |
18% |
20% |
9% |
| Health services |
25% |
38% |
-13 |
6% |
19% |
29% |
20% |
18% |
7% |
| Climate change |
24% |
39% |
-15 |
10% |
14% |
28% |
13% |
26% |
9% |
| Supporting Australian jobs |
25% |
44% |
-19 |
8% |
17% |
26% |
20% |
24% |
6% |
The Government received negative rating for all issues except managing the economy (34% good/31% poor) and treatment of asylum seekers (37%/36%).
Highest negative ratings were given for supporting Australian jobs (25% good/44% poor), climate change (24%/39%), health services (25%/38%), industrial relations (26%/38%) and social welfare (27%/39%).
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
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- Federal voting intention
- Leader attributes: Scott Morrison
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Uptake of a Covid-19 vaccine
- Reason those who would get vaccinated against Covid-19 have not been vaccinated yet
- Speed of NSW lockdown
- Time for Covid-19 milestones to occur for NSW
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