26th October, 2009

The possibility of ‘unfriendly countries’ becoming nuclear powers and international terrorism remain the two greatest threats to Australia, according to the Lowy Institute’s annual poll of Australian attitudes toward the world.

More than 1,000 people were surveyed for the poll which also found that sentiment towards the United States was continuing to warm with 83 per cent of Australians saying they trusting the US to act responsibly in the world - a rise of 23 points on the 2006 result - while 76 per cent said they were concerned about unauthorised asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat.

Other results showed:

• Eighty-six per cent of people were optimistic about Australia’s economic performance over the next five years;

• Sixty-three per cent saw China as the most important economy to Australia at the moment while 95 per cent agreed China already is or will become the leading power in Asia;

• Global warming ranked as the 4th most critical threat facing Australia but the result was down 14 points on last year’s result;

• Seventy-five per cent of Australians agreed that global nuclear disarmament should be a top priority for the Australian Government; and,

• Fifty-one per cent of respondents said Australia should not be involved militarily in Afghanistan while 46 per cent said it should.

~ www.lowyinstitute.org

- DAVID ADAMS