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  • Jun, 2021

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    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%).
  • Jun, 2021

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    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.
  • May, 2020

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    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%).
  • May, 2015

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    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.

  • Jun, 2014

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    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).

  • Oct, 2012

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    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.

  • Oct, 2012

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    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.

  • Mar, 2011

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    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%).

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