Lowy Institute Poll 2019 Report

Relations with major powers

Australia’s relationships with the world’s two largest economies — China and the United States — have been a subject of fierce debate since China became Australia’s largest trading partner in 2007.

In 2019, Australians’ trust in China to ‘act responsibly in the world’ has fallen to its lowest level in the history of Lowy Institute polling. Only 32% of Australians say they trust China either ‘a great deal’ or ‘somewhat’ to act responsibly, a 20-point fall from 2018 and 15 points lower than the previous low of 47% recorded in 2008.

Trust in the United States, on the other hand, is relatively unchanged from last year but on a downward trajectory since 2011. A majority of Australians (52%) say they trust the United States either ‘a great deal’ or ‘somewhat’ to act responsibly in the world. However, this is the lowest level of trust in the United States recorded since we first asked this question in 2006, and 31 points lower than it was in 2009 (83%).

This issue of trust may have influenced the priority Australians place on the relationship with the United States. Asked about their priorities between China and the United States, more Australians in 2019 incline towards our traditional ally, the United States. Half (50%) agree that ‘the Australian government should put a higher priority on maintaining strong relations with the United States, even if this might harm our relations with China’. However, a sizeable minority (44%) say Australia should ‘put a higher priority on building stronger relations with China, even if this might harm our relations with the United States’.