Australia’s trust in both China and the US has plunged, a new poll has found

Australia’s trust in both China and the US has plunged, a new poll has found

A new poll has revealed Australians’ trust in China has plunged dramatically due to its military intentions, infrastructure ambitions and displays of influence.

New polling by the Lowy Institute found Australians were growing wary of both China and the United States and no longer trusted either world power to act responsibly on the world stage.



The annual poll revealed fewer Australians held confidence in US President Donald Trump doing the “right thing in world affairs” — a five-point fall to 25 per cent — than Chinese President Xi Jinping at 30 per cent, with both leaders’ standings falling compared with 2018.

Australians’ trust in China has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years, with just 32 per cent of people saying they trust the country either a “great deal” or “somewhat”.

This is a 20-point fall from 2018 and 15 points lower than the previous lowest of 47 per cent recorded in 2008.

Fifty-two per cent of Australians say they trust the US, but this too marks a 15-year record low.

There is still more support for traditional alliances, with more Australians found to favour maintaining strong relations with the United States than China. But the results were close.



Half of Australians agree “the Australian government should put a higher priority on maintaining strong relations with the United States, even if this might harm our relations with China”.

Forty-four per cent say Australia should “put a higher priority on building stronger relations with China, even if this might harm our relations with the United States”.

That said, most Australians still believe Australians and Americans share many common values and ideals and show support for the alliance.

Seventy-three per cent agreed a strong alliance was “a natural extension of this” and believed the US would come to our defence if Australia was under threat.

At the same time, more Australians (72 per cent) believe the US alliance is important than they did in 2007 during George W Bush’s administration.

Yet only a quarter of Australians have either “a lot” or “some” confidence in Mr Trump, who ranked seventh on a list of nine global leaders — above only Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

Almost three-quarters of Australians believe Australia is too economically reliant on China, and 68 per cent believe Canberra is allowing too much Chinese investment.



All in all, positive sentiment towards China has dropped 9 per cent — the largest fall in 15 years of polling.

It also appears the public supports the Government’s decision to ban Huawei from the 5G network.

The poll also found an increase in concern over foreign interference in Australian politics — up from 41 to 49 per cent on last year.

Climate change topped the list of fears among Australians, with 64 per cent deeming it a “critical threat” — an increase of six points on last year.

The results also show growing fears about cyberattacks from other countries, which are now seen as the second-greatest threat to our vital interests at 62 per cent.



International terrorism and North Korea’s nuclear program came a little bit further down the list.