Almost two-thirds of Australian voters don’t think pro-Palestine or pro-Israel protests should be allowed, and most don’t want to accept refugees from the conflict either, a new poll shows.
A Resolve Political Monitor survey of 1,606 eligible voters conducted for Nine Newspapers between Tuesday and Saturday also found that 50% do not think Australia should voice in-principle support for Israel or Gaza.
On the question of whether Australia should allow marches and protests by local supporters of either Israel (or the IDF) or Gaza (or Hamas), 7% said Israel only, 8% Gaza only, 26% said both or either, and 59% said they should not be allowed.
Asked whether Australia should be prepared to take refugees, 11% said those from Israel only should be accepted, compared to 13% for Gaza only, 24% for both or either, and 52% said neither.
Of the 50% who do want Australia to voice in-principle support, 23% wanted support for Israel only, while 12% were in favour of support for Gaza only, and 15% said both or either.
In response to the question “Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘The conflict in the Middle East has made Australia a less safe place’?” 45% said they “totally agree”, 26% said “totally disagree” while 29% were unsure.
Asked about the Australian political response to the conflict, 55% of all voters said they were unsure of which party and leader had responded best, rising to 59% of uncommitted voters, and 56% of those in marginal seats.
18% said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor had responded best, compared to 22% for Peter Dutton and the Coalition, and 6% for Adam Bandt and the Greens. For uncommitted voters, 20% selected Labor, 18% said the Coalition, and 4% said the Greens.
Resolve director Jim Reed said the results showed that this weekend’s October 7 protests were unlikely to influence public opinion.
“Most people aren’t interested in Australia getting physically involved in this foreign conflict,” he said.
“Where there is partisan support in areas like diplomacy and supply of equipment, it tends to favour Israel by a factor of two to one, and that’s a growing trend in our tracking.
“If the idea behind weekly marches for Palestine or Lebanon is to gain mainstream support for their cause, they are failing dismally.”
So far the Albanese government has spent $90 million last year on trying to maintain social cohesion between the Jewish and Muslim communities since October 7 last year, including the controversial appointments of “special envoys” on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
Header image: A pro-Palestine/Lebanon protest in Sydney on October 6 (Jessica Whyte – X)
