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Foreign military based in Australia

In 2022, 45% were somewhat in favour of the United Kingdom basing military forces in Australia.

Question Foreign military based in Australia

Are you personally in favour or against Australia allowing the United States to base military forces here in Australia?

Responses from 2022.

  1. 60%
  2. 40%
  3. 20%
  4. 0%
  5. 20%
  6. 40%
  7. 60%
  8. 80%
United Kingdom
11
21
45
22
United States
14
22
41
22

In 2022, respondents were also asked if they were in favour or against Australia allowing the UK to base military forces in Australia.

  • Strongly against
  • Somewhat against
  • Somewhat in favour
  • Strongly in favour
Total
All groups

2026 observation

In 2011, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former US President Barack Obama announced the rotation of US marines through Darwin, a deployment that has continued and expanded since then.

In April 2023, as part of the AUKUS submarine decision, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden announced that one UK and up to four US nuclear-powered submarines would rotate through the HMAS Stirling naval base in Western Australia.

This year, over half of Australians (55%) say they are either ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ in favour of allowing the United States to base military forces in Australia, down eight points from 2022 (63%).

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