Almost half of voters (48%) want the Australian government to review Aukus and the acquisition of nuclear submarines after the election of Donald Trump in the US.
Those are the results of the latest Guardian Essential poll of 1,206 voters, which found Australian voters were concerned about the incoming Trump administration’s effect on the economy, peace and climate change.
More respondents said the Trump administration will be bad news for the global economy (42% said negative, 38% said positive), “resolving global conflicts and promoting peace” (41% to 37%) and America’s influence on global affairs (44% to 37%).
Trump rated worst on “the global effort to reduce carbon emissions”, with 42% describing his administration as negative on this measure compared with 29% who said positive.
A majority of respondents said Australia should respond to Trump’s election by: taking steps to protect our democratic institutions from foreign interference (74%), continuing to reduce carbon emissions “regardless of what America does” (64%) and setting “strong rules to limit the power of American tech companies” (62%).
Asked if Australia should “review its commitment to the Aukus defence agreement, including the purchase of nuclear-powered submarines”, 21% said they strongly agreed with this and another 27% said they somewhat agreed.
One-third of respondents (33%) neither agreed nor disagreed, with just 19% disagreeing somewhat (11%) or strongly (8%). Even 45% of Coalition voters wanted Aukus reviewed.
Women were more likely to want continued action on climate change (67% of women said yes, and 62% of men) and to review Aukus (51% of women said yes, and 46% of men).
Despite chipping Trump for his handling of the climate crisis, the poll found almost half (48%) of respondents thought hotter summers were caused by “normal fluctuations in the weather cycle”, while the rest (52%) correctly identified they are a “consequence of climate change”.
A majority (52%) of respondents said Australia was not doing enough to combat climate change. The rest thought it was doing enough (22%), too much (8%) or did not know (18%).
Anthony Albanese’s approval is still in negative territory, with 48% of respondents disapproving of the job he is doing as prime minister and 43% approving, down two points since October.
However, there was an improvement in the proportion of voters saying the country is going in the right direction (35%), up four points since October, and those saying it is on the wrong track (48%) down four points.
For the first time since October 2023, more respondents (51%) said they were “financially comfortable” or “secure” (up three points since October 2024) than said they were “financially struggling” or “in serious difficulty” (49%), down three.
Peter Dutton’s approval rating is neutral with 42% approving of his performance as opposition leader (down three points) and 41% disapproving (up two).
Respondents were also asked about Labor’s plan to cut student debts by 20% and raise the repayment threshold from $54,435 to $67,000.
Just over a quarter (28%) were in favour of that option, but when combined with the 36% who back eliminating debts and making university free for everyone – a policy advocated by the Greens – a majority wanted student debt relief.
About 36% said “the current scheme should be retained as taxpayers already subsidise universities enough”, which the Coalition has argued after Albanese announced the plan.
