Essential Report
Views towards Scott Morrison’s handling of recent Twitter controversy
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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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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