Influence of the US
Q. Thinking about Australia’s relationship with the United States of America, how do you rate the influence of the United States of America on each of the following aspects?
| TOTAL: Positive | TOTAL: Negative | Very positive | Somewhat positive | Somewhat negative | Very negative | Unsure | |
| Australia’s defence, military, and national security | 63% | 19% | 21% | 42% | 12% | 7% | 18% |
| Australia’s international trade | 59% | 19% | 14% | 45% | 13% | 6% | 22% |
| Australia’s culture | 49% | 33% | 13% | 37% | 22% | 10% | 18% |
| Australia’s politics | 47% | 31% | 11% | 35% | 20% | 11% | 23% |
| American corporations and businesses operating in Australia | 53% | 26% | 12% | 41% | 19% | 7% | 21% |
| TOTAL: Positive influence | Jun’21 | May’20 | Aug’19 |
| Australia’s defence, military, and national security | 63% | 54% | 65% |
| Australia’s international trade | 59% | 48% | 56% |
| Australia’s culture | 49% | 43% | 51% |
| Australia’s politics | 47% | 41% | 43% |
| American corporations and businesses operating in Australia | 53% | 47% | 57% |
| Base (n) | 1,087 | 1,087 | 1,096 |
| TOTAL: Positive influence | Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | ||||||||
| Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
| Australia’s defence, military, and national security | 63% | 67% | 60% | 51% | 62% | 74% | 65% | 77% | 42% | 54% | ||
| Australia’s international trade | 59% | 62% | 56% | 48% | 60% | 69% | 59% | 73% | 36% | 56% | ||
| Australia’s culture | 49% | 50% | 48% | 42% | 53% | 52% | 48% | 62% | 27% | 46% | ||
| Australia’s politics | 47% | 50% | 43% | 36% | 49% | 53% | 44% | 63% | 25% | 38% | ||
| American corporations and businesses operating in Australia | 53% | 58% | 48% | 43% | 55% | 60% | 53% | 65% | 35% | 45% | ||
| Base (n) | 1,087 | 527 | 560 | 328 | 374 | 385 | 378 | 407 | 98 | 102 | ||
- Australians are as likely as they were in August 2019 to rate the US as a positive influence on Australia. The biggest increases to the positive influence of the US were defence, military and national security (63%, from 54%), and Australia’s international trade (59%, from 48%).
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.
Most beneficial country to strengthen our relationship with
Q. Given the choice between the United States of America and China, which country do you think it would be most beneficial for Australia strengthen our relationship with?
| Gender | Age Group | ||||||
| Total | Male | Female | Labor | NET: Coalition | Greens | NET: Other | |
| United States of America | 42% | 46% | 39% | 36% | 56% | 16% | 48% |
| China | 18% | 22% | 15% | 22% | 15% | 25% | 15% |
| Neither | 24% | 20% | 27% | 29% | 18% | 37% | 26% |
| Don’t know | 16% | 11% | 19% | 12% | 10% | 21% | 10% |
| Base (n) | 1,087 | 534 | 553 | 323 | 428 | 100 | 120 |
| May’20 | Aug’19 | Change | |
| United States of America | 42% | 38% | 4% |
| China | 18% | 28% | -10% |
| Neither | 24% | 18% | 6% |
| Don’t know | 16% | 15% | 1% |
| Base | 1,087 | 1,096 | – |
- Now 42% of participants believe it would be more beneficial to strength our relationship with the United States of America (up 4%), but a quarter say we should strengthen our relationship with neither country (24%, up 6%).
- Coalition voters are most likely to say we should strengthen our relationship with America (56%), while Greens voters would prefer to strengthen our relationship with neither country (37%).
Increasing US military presence in Australia
Q. Would you approve or disapprove of increasing the US military aircraft stationed in Australia to counter China’s growing military power?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote other/ Indep- endent |
|||
|
Total approve |
42% |
39% |
56% |
19% |
44% |
||
|
Total disapprove |
32% |
38% |
19% |
56% |
42% |
||
|
Strongly approve |
12% |
10% |
15% |
6% |
16% |
||
|
Approve |
30% |
29% |
41% |
13% |
28% |
||
|
Disapprove |
19% |
21% |
13% |
31% |
23% |
||
|
Strongly disapprove |
13% |
17% |
6% |
25% |
19% |
||
|
Don’t know |
25% |
23% |
24% |
25% |
14% |
||
42% approve and 32% disapprove of increasing the US military aircraft stationed in Australia to counter China’s growing military power. Those most likely to approve were Liberal/National voters (56%) and men (50%). 36% of women approve and 33% disapprove.
Those with university education were split 39% approve/41% disapprove.
Approval of US drone strikes
Q. The United States has a policy of targeting terrorists with remote controlled drone strikes in countries such as Afghanistan and Yemen. These attacks also sometimes kill and injure nearby civilians. Do you approve or disapprove of this policy?
|
Total |
|
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
Vote Other |
|
| Total approve |
35% |
30% |
48% |
19% |
33% |
|
| Total disapprove |
45% |
50% |
33% |
63% |
51% |
|
| Strongly approve |
11% |
7% |
16% |
4% |
15% |
|
| Approve |
24% |
23% |
32% |
15% |
18% |
|
| Disapprove |
28% |
32% |
25% |
24% |
26% |
|
| Strongly disapprove |
17% |
18% |
8% |
39% |
25% |
|
| Don’t know |
21% |
19% |
19% |
18% |
16% |
35% approve of the US policy of targeting terrorists with remote controlled drone strikes and 45% disapprove.
A majority of Labor voters (50%), Greens voters (63%) and other voters (51%) disapprove while Liberal/National voters were more likely to approve (48% approve/33% disapprove).
Men were more likely to approve (47% approve/39% disapprove) while women were more likely to disapprove (23% approve/51% disapprove).
Change in relationships with other countries
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 |
Change |
| China |
29% |
50% |
9% |
12% |
|
32% |
35% |
-6 |
| New Zealand |
26% |
59% |
4% |
11% |
|
37% |
33% |
-7 |
| Indonesia |
25% |
47% |
16% |
12% |
|
21% |
23% |
+2 |
| India |
24% |
47% |
15% |
14% |
|
19% |
23% |
+1 |
| Japan |
22% |
59% |
7% |
13% |
|
26% |
24% |
-2 |
| United Kingdom |
21% |
62% |
6% |
10% |
|
25% |
19% |
+2 |
| United States |
21% |
59% |
10% |
10% |
|
24% |
18% |
+3 |
| Germany |
18% |
59% |
7% |
16% |
|
18% |
20% |
-2 |
| South Africa |
12% |
57% |
14% |
16% |
|
13% |
14% |
-2 |
29% favour closer relations with China, 26% with New Zealand, 25% with Indonesia and 24% with India.
Liberal/National voters are more likely to favour closer relationships with United States (25%).
Greens voters are more likely to favour closer relationships with Indonesia (34%), Japan (34%) and India (44%),
Since this question was asked last year, the percentages wanting a closer relationship with the China (-7%) and the New Zealand (-6%) have declined.
US Heading in Right/Wrong Direction
Q. Overall, do you think the United States is heading in the right direction/wrong direction?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Right direction |
39% |
46% |
37% |
45% |
| Wrong direction |
23% |
18% |
29% |
19% |
| Don’t know |
38% |
36% |
34% |
36% |
39% think the US is heading in the right direction, 23% in the wrong direction and 38% don’t know.
46% of Labor voters and 45% of Greens voters think the US is heading in the right direction, while 29% of Liberal/National voters think it is heading in the wrong direction.
Importance of Relationships with Other Countries
Q. How important is it for Australia to have a close relationship with the following nations?
| Very important | Quite important | Not very important | Don’t know | Very Important 15 Nov | Change | ||
| New Zealand | 69% | 24% | 4% | 3% | 54% | +15 | |
| United States | 60% | 33% | 5% | 2% | 56% | +4 | |
| United Kingdom | 56% | 35% | 6% | 3% | 44% | +12 | |
| China | 48% | 42% | 6% | 4% | 45% | +3 | |
| Japan | 39% | 47% | 9% | 4% | 30% | +9 | |
| Indonesia | 31% | 43% | 20% | 6% | 30% | +1 | |
| India | 26% | 42% | 26% | 5% | 24% | +2 | |
| Germany | 23% | 42% | 29% | 6% | 15% | +8 | |
| South Africa | 16% | 36% | 39% | 8% | 12% | +4 |
More than half the respondents think it is very important to have close relationships with the New Zealand (69%), United States (60%) and the United Kingdom (56%) and just under half think it is very important to have a close relationship with China (48%).
A close relationship with the United States is considered very important by 70% of Liberal/National voters and 57% of Labor voters and 48% of Greens voters.
Since this question was asked in November, there have been substantial increases in the rating of the importance of relations with New Zealand (+15%), United Kingdom (+12%) and Japan (+9%).
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
Recent Comments
