Natasha Kassam
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NATASHA KASSAM UNDERSTANDING AUSTRALIAN ATTITUDES TO THE WORLD PREFACE COVID reveals. It sees through what nations say Last November, Americans changed course and about themselves and reveals what they really are. elected a new president, Joe Biden. Australians are much more confident in President Biden than COVID has humbled great nations and raised up they were in his predecessor. Trust in the United small nations. Like an X-ray, COVID shows up the States has returned to an upward trajectory. Fewer healthy and unhealthy parts of the body politic. Australians now believe that President Donald Trump weakened Australia’s alliance with the It has shown the frailties of the United States — but United States, although this is still a majority view. also its resilience. It has shown both the capacities Support for the Australia-US alliance remains and weaknesses of China’s authoritarian system. strong. Compared to most countries, Australia has fared Australia is also looking with renewed purpose to very well over the past year. Our initial handling of partners and friends in our region. In the year that the pandemic was among the best in the world. The Quad leaders first met as a foursome, Australians’ Australian economy is humming along. However, trust in both Japan and India has increased. The in mid-2021, Australia — an open-minded nation of majority of Australians, traditionally sceptical of immigrants and travellers, with a long-held belief in foreign aid, want to help Pacific and Southeast globalisation — remains closed to the world. Asian countries to access COVID vaccines. The 2021 Lowy Institute Poll captures the mood of As well as the annual Lowy Institute Poll, this report the Australian public at this remarkable moment. incorporates Climate Poll 2021, a survey that asked Australians have a renewed sense of optimism Australians about their views on climate change about the world and their place in it. The country is policy. Ahead of the UN Climate Change Confer- rightly proud of its efforts to manage the pandemic. ence in Glasgow in November, the vast majority of Australians want to see further action taken on While Australians’ trust in many countries has climate change. They are also moving decisively increased in 2021, sentiment towards China is now away from coal. Most say Australia is doing too little quite bleak. For the first time, more Australians see to address climate change, but they are even more China’s economic growth as a negative rather than critical of perceived climate inaction by China, India a positive. The majority of Australians blame China and the United States. for the current tensions in the bilateral relationship. More Australians see China as a security threat than In this its seventeenth year, the Lowy Institute Poll an economic partner. Confidence in China’s Presi- continues to chart how Australians feel about the dent Xi Jinping, already declining, has fallen to a world and its challenges, including COVID, China new record low. and climate change. However, Australians do not want regional competi- Dr Michael Fullilove tion to slide into confrontation. Most still believe we Executive Director can maintain good relations with both superpow- June 2021 ers. A majority of Australians would prefer to stay neutral in the event of a military conflict between China and the United States. 2 CONTENTS Executive summary 4 Australia at home 20 Global powers and world leaders 6 Democracy 20 Trust in global powers 6 Australia’s reputation overseas 21 Confidence in world leaders 8 Australia’s place in the world 22 Relations with superpowers — the Coalition government report card 22 United States and China 10 Feelings towards other countries 22 Australia’s alliance with the United States 10 The COVID-19 pandemic 24 Views of China 12 Border and consular policies 24 Australia’s relationship with the superpowers 15 Global responses to COVID-19 24 Safety, security and threats to Foreign aid and COVID-19 25 Australia’s vital interests 16 Climate Poll 2021 26 Feelings of safety 16 Levels of concern about climate change 26 Threats to Australia’s vital interests 16 Australian government policies Foreign influence 18 on climate change 27 Economic outlook and International climate change policies 29 foreign investment 19 Tables of results 30 Optimism about Australia’s economic performance 19 About the Poll 45 Investment from foreign countries 19 Methodology 45 Acknowledgements 46 Figures 47 Notes 48 important’ to Australia’s security. Three-quarters of Australians EXECUTIVE (76%) agree that ‘Australians and Americans share many com- mon values and ideals. A strong alliance is a natural extension SUMMARY of this’. The same number (75%) say ‘the United States would come to Australia’s defence if Australia was under threat’. Fewer Australians this year (58%) agree that ‘Donald Trump has weak- Trust in global powers ened Australia’s alliance with the United States’ (down 8 points Trust in China has fallen to a new record low, with only 16% of since 2019). Only one-third (36%) say ‘the United States is in Australians saying that they trust China ‘a great deal’ or ‘some- decline relative to China and so the alliance is of decreasing what’ to act responsibly in the world. This represents a 7-point importance’, a view held by almost half the population (46%) in decline from 2020 and is now a third of the level in 2018 when a 2019. majority of Australians (52%) said they trusted China. Almost all Australians (92%) trust Australia to act responsibly in the world. When asked about a military conflict between China and the An overwhelming majority of Australians (87%) say they trust United States, more than half the population (57%) say ‘Australia Japan and the United Kingdom to act responsibly in the world. should remain neutral’. Four in ten Australians (41%) say ‘Aus- Six in ten Australians (61%) say they trust the United States, an tralia should support the United States’ and 1% say ‘Australia increase of 10 points from last year. The same number (61%) should support China’. say they trust India a great deal or somewhat, an increase of 16 points since 2020. Almost half (48%) say they trust Indonesia, Seven in ten Australians (72%) say it is possible for Australia to an increase of 12 points in the past year. Only 26% of Australians have good relations with the United States and China at the say they trust Russia, steady from 2020. same time, a 15-point drop since 2013. Confidence in world leaders China One in ten Australians (10%) say they have ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of The majority of Australians (63%) now see China as ‘more of a confidence in China’s President Xi Jinping to ‘do the right thing security threat to Australia’, a substantial 22-point increase from regarding world affairs’, which has halved since 2020 (22%) and 2020. Only 34% say China is ‘more of an economic partner to fallen 33 points since 2018. US President Joe Biden inspires Australia’, 21 points lower than in 2020. More than half (56%) confidence in far more Australians than his predecessor. Seven say ‘China is more to blame’ than Australia for the tensions in the in ten (69%) have confidence in President Biden, a striking 39 Australia-China relationship. Four in ten (38%) say that Australia points higher than Australians’ confidence in former President and China are equally to blame. Almost none (4%) say ‘Australia Donald Trump in 2020 (30%). is more to blame’. Australians are split over participation in the Winter Olympics in China: 51% favour attending, while 45% say New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tops the list of Australia should not attend because of China’s human rights global leaders again, with 91% expressing confidence in her (up record. 4 points from 2020). Australians also hold high levels of confi- dence in German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with 67% saying Three-quarters of Australians (76%) say ‘Chinese people [they] they have confidence in her. Two-thirds (67%) express confi- have met’ have positively influenced their view of China (down dence in Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a 7-point increase from 9 points since 2016). Seven in ten Australians (68%) say China’s 2020. The number who are confident in Australia’s Opposition culture and history have a positive influence on their view of leader Anthony Albanese remains steady at 56%. More than China, an 11-point decline from 2016. Less than half the popula- half (59%) have confidence in UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, tion (47%) say China’s economic growth has a positive influence 4 points higher than in 2020. on their view of China, a steep 28-point fall since 2016. Six in ten Australians (61%) have confidence in Japan’s Prime One in five Australians (20%) say that Chinese investment has a Minister Yoshihide Suga. Fewer Australians have confidence in positive influence on their view of China, a 17-point decline from other leaders in our region, with 38% expressing confidence in 2016. Only 17% of Australians say China’s environmental policies Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 26% saying they have have a positive influence on their views of China, unchanged confidence in Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Only 16% from 2016. A mere 6% say China’s system of government has a of Australians say they have confidence in Russian President positive influence on their views of China, a 9-point decline from Vladimir Putin. Almost no Australians (5%) say they have confi- 2016. Almost no Australians (5%) see China’s military activities in dence in North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. our region as having a positive influence on their views of China.