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Views towards Scott Morrison’s handling of recent Twitter controversy

15 Dec 2020

Q. Which of the following is closer to your view on the recent controversy over an official Chinese Twitter account sharing a fake image on Twitter showing an Australian soldier threatening to kill a child?

  Total Gender Age Group Federal Voting Intention
  Male Female 18-34 35-54 55+ Labor TOTAL: Coalition Greens TOTAL: Other
Scott Morrison was right to publicly demand an apology from the Chinese government, even if China retaliates by restricting trade with Australia 56% 55% 57% 48% 57% 62% 51% 65% 41% 68%
Scott Morrison should have let the issue be handled through diplomatic channels. At this time of economic uncertainty, the last thing we need is to publicly criticise our biggest trading partner 44% 45% 43% 52% 43% 38% 49% 35% 59% 32%
Base (n) 1,071 539 532 339 374 358 356 406 102 107
  • Over half believe the Prime Minister was correct to demand an apology from the Chinese government regarding the fake Twitter incident (56%), but 44% believe it should have been handled by other diplomatic means.
  • Those aged 18-34 (52%), Labor voters (49%) and Greens voters (59%) disagree with publicly criticising China over the incident.
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