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%).
International relations under a Coalition Government
Q. Do you think under the Coalition Government, relations with the following countries will improve or get worse?
|
Improve |
Get worse |
Stay much the same |
Don’t know |
|
| United States |
24% |
12% |
48% |
16% |
| United Kingdom |
20% |
11% |
52% |
17% |
| New Zealand |
19% |
12% |
53% |
16% |
| Germany |
11% |
11% |
57% |
21% |
| Japan |
15% |
16% |
50% |
19% |
| China |
19% |
22% |
40% |
19% |
| South Africa |
9% |
12% |
56% |
23% |
| India |
13% |
19% |
47% |
21% |
| Indonesia |
11% |
49% |
22% |
18% |
For most countries, about half think that relations will stay much the same. The exceptions were China (19% improve, 22% get worse) and Indonesia (11% improve, 49% get worse).
Respondents were more likely to think that relations with the United States, New Zealand and United Kingdom would improve.
The main differences by party preference were for China (Labor 7% improve/38% get worse compared to Lib/Nat 33% improve/6% get worse) and Indonesia (Labor 4% improve/68% get worse compared to Lib/Nat 21% improve/31% get worse).
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 |
|
| A lot of trust |
20% |
4% |
44% |
1% |
6% |
18% |
||
| Some trust |
21% |
8% |
37% |
4% |
16% |
23% |
||
| A little trust |
18% |
18% |
13% |
24% |
31% |
16% |
||
| No trust |
35% |
64% |
3% |
67% |
41% |
37% |
||
| Don’t know |
7% |
7% |
3% |
4% |
5% |
7% |
20% 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 (64%) and Greens (67%) voters were far more likely to have ‘no trust’. Liberal/National voters were far less likely (3%) to have no trust. 44% of Liberal/National voters have “a lot of trust”.
These results have changed little since this question was asked in October.
International Relations (preference for close relationships)
Q. Would you like to see Australia’s relationship with these countries get closer, stay the same or become less close?
|
Get closer |
Stay the same |
Become less close |
Don’t know |
|
Get closer (28 Mar 11) |
Get closer (14 Nov 11) |
Get closer (29 Oct 11) |
Change – Oct 12 to Oct 13 |
|
| China |
33% |
49% |
10% |
9% |
32% |
35% |
29% |
4% |
|
| New Zealand |
34% |
55% |
3% |
8% |
37% |
33% |
26% |
8% |
|
| Indonesia |
29% |
45% |
15% |
10% |
21% |
23% |
25% |
4% |
|
| India |
21% |
52% |
16% |
12% |
19% |
23% |
24% |
-3% |
|
| Japan |
24% |
57% |
9% |
10% |
26% |
24% |
22% |
2% |
|
| United Kingdom |
22% |
60% |
9% |
8% |
25% |
19% |
21% |
1% |
|
| United States |
20% |
59% |
13% |
8% |
24% |
18% |
21% |
-1% |
|
| Germany |
18% |
60% |
10% |
13% |
18% |
20% |
18% |
– |
|
| South Africa |
12% |
59% |
14% |
15% |
13% |
14% |
12% |
– |
33% favour closer relations with China, 34% with New Zealand, 29% with Indonesia and 24% with Japan.
Liberal/National voters were more likely to favour closer relationships with the United States (24%). Greens voters are more likely to favour closer relationships with Indonesia (38%).
Labor voters were more likely to favour closer relationships with New Zealand (40%) and Japan (28%)
Those aged 18-25 were more likely to favour closer relationships with Japan (45%), New Zealand (48%), China (51%) and Germany (28%).
Since this question was asked last year, the percentages wanting a closer relationship with the New Zealand (+8%) has increased.
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?
|
|
|
| A lot of trust |
18% |
| Some trust |
23% |
| A little trust |
16% |
| No trust |
37% |
| Don’t know |
7% |
Just 18% of people have ‘a lot of trust’ in Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government to handle Australia’s international relations.
37% have no trust.
Females (41%) were more likely than males (32%) to have no trust.
Labor (67%) and Green (63%) voters were far more likely to have ‘no trust’. Liberal/National voters were far less likely (2%) to have no trust.
Importance of Issues in Voting
Q. How important are the following in deciding which party you will vote for?
| Top priority | Very important | Quite important | Not so important | Don’t know | |
| Better at handling Australia’s economy | 37% | 48% | 10% | 1% | 4% |
| They have better policies on things like education and health | 31% | 47% | 16% | 1% | 4% |
| They are more capable of governing effectively than the other parties | 30% | 47% | 16% | 1% | 6% |
| They are more likely to represent the interests of all Australians | 30% | 45% | 18% | 3% | 5% |
| They will do things that help me and my family | 28% | 42% | 21% | 4% | 5% |
| They have better policies on things like national security and immigration | 24% | 42% | 22% | 6% | 5% |
| Better at looking after the interests people like me | 23% | 47% | 22% | 4% | 4% |
| They have better policies on things like industrial relations and supporting Australian workers | 23% | 44% | 24% | 4% | 5% |
| More trustworthy than the other parties | 22% | 44% | 21% | 5% | 8% |
| They have better policies on things like environment and climate change | 21% | 41% | 23% | 9% | 5% |
| They have a better leader | 16% | 40% | 28% | 8% | 7% |
| I always vote for them | 9% | 15% | 24% | 42% | 10% |
Key factors in deciding which party to vote for are handling the economy (37% top priority), policies on education and health (31%), capable of governing effectively (30%) and representing the interests of all Australians (30%). Comments »
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
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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
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