Question US alliance: importance to Australia’s security

Thinking now about the United States. How important is our alliance relationship with the United States for Australia’s security?

  1. 0%
  2. 20%
  3. 40%
  4. 60%
  5. 80%
  6. 100%
2005
45
27
72
2006
42
28
70
2007
36
27
63
2008
42
34
76
2009
55
30
85
2010
56
30
86
2011
59
23
82
2012
59
28
87
2013
54
28
82
2014
53
26
79
2015
53
27
80
2016
42
29
71
2017
53
24
77
2018
48
28
76
2019
38
34
72
2020
43
35
78
2021
47
31
78
2022
60
27
87
2023
51
31
82
2024
53
30
83
2025
49
31
80

Indicates change in mode: see 2025 Methodology.

  • Very important
  • Fairly important
Total
All groups

Observation

Despite the significant 20-point drop in trust towards the United States in 2025, Australia’s alliance with the United States, known as ANZUS, continues to garner widespread support among Australians. Eight in ten (80%) continue to say the alliance is ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ important for Australia’s security, steady on last year (83%).

This majority view of the importance of the alliance to Australia has been one of the most resilient features of Lowy Institute polling. It has largely withstood leadership changes and political swings in the United States, holding at a strong majority throughout Donald Trump’s first term.

Nevertheless, on average over the past two dec­ades, Australians have placed more importance in the alliance during the terms of Democratic presidents (Obama and Biden) than Republican presidents (Bush and Trump), when support for the alliance waned. It is too early to tell if this pattern will be repeated during Trump’s second term. To date, the lowest ebb of support for the alliance was in 2007, during President George Bush’s war on Iraq. Even then, almost two-thirds (63%) of Australians said the alliance was important to the country’s security.

Data

Compare different demographics, years, categories, and responses.

Demographic

Year

Response

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