2019 Report

Foreign technology

On 23 August 2018, the Australian government announced a decision that effectively banned Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from building Australia’s 5G infrastructure, citing national security concerns. That decision appears to have gained the backing of many Australians. On the implications of foreign involvement in Australian infrastructure, almost half (44%) of the population say that the first priority for the Australian government should be ‘protecting Australians from foreign state intrusion’ when considering ‘which foreign companies should be allowed to supply new technology for important services in Australia’. Significantly fewer (28% each) believe the government’s first priority should be ‘bringing the most sophisticated technology to Australia’ or ‘keeping prices down for Australian consumers’.

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Foreign technology in Australia

When considering which foreign companies should be allowed to supply new technology for important services in Australia, which one of the following should be the first priority for the Australian government in your view:

Keeping prices down for Australian consumers 28Bringing the most sophisticated technology to Australia 28Protecting Australians from foreign state intrusion 44Don’t know 1

Climate change and global warming