2014 Lowy Institute Poll finds strong support for government policy on turning back boats

The tenth annual Lowy Institute Poll, released today, finds that Australians strongly support the Abbott Government’s ‘Operation Sovereign Borders’ policy of turning back asylum seeker boats when safe to do so.

Testing the appeal of five propositions encapsulating the range of policy options put forward by various Australian governments and political parties in recent years, the 2014 Lowy Institute Poll finds that 71% of Australian adults agree that the government should turn back boats when safe to do so.

However, the majority of Australians (57%) disagree with the former Rudd Government policy that ‘no asylum seeker coming to Australia by boat should be allowed to settle in Australia’.

For 59%, offshore processing in places such as Nauru and PNG is supported. However, temporary protection visas are more divisive – 48% agree and 49% disagree with this policy idea.

On the proposition that ‘all asylum seekers should be processed in Australia whether or not they come by boat’, Australians are divided: 51% disagree and 47% agree.

The full report will be available on the Lowy Institute website on Wednesday 4 June at 12.01 a.m., together with the updated 2014 Lowy Institute Poll Interactive – a data visualisation tool exploring key results from 10 years of Lowy Institute polling.

The 2014 Lowy Institute Poll is based on a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,000 Australian adults between 12 and 27 February 2014. An additional 150 adults aged 18-29 years of age were also surveyed on questions about democracy, threats to Australia’s vital interests, climate change and feelings towards other countries. The Poll’s error margin on the 1000 sample is approximately +/- 3.1%.