Australians are more afraid of Donald Trump’s tariffs than the increasing Chinese military threat, according to a shocking new poll.
The Newspoll, conducted between Monday and Thursday last week, revealed greater concern among voters about the US President’s unpredictable trade penalties than there was about his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping’s westward push.
When 1283 Australians were asked to prioritise the two, 42 per cent of voters said US tariffs were more of a concern, while just 37 per cent stated Beijing’s military build-up in the Indo-Pacific region was the more pressing situation.
Voters who were neutral on the two global issues stood at 21 per cent, the poll published in The Australian revealed.
However, the polling analysis also showed a partisan effect was at play, with Labor and the Greens viewing Trump’s tariffs as the bigger threat, while the Coalition and minor party voters saw China as the more dangerous issue.
Trumps tariffs triggered 55 per cent of Labor voters and 60 per cent of Greens voters, but just 29 per cent of Coalition and minor party voters.
On the other hand, China’s military muscle worried 50 per cent of Coalition supporters and 49 per cent of minor party supporters, but just 26 per cent and 22 per cent of Labor and Greens voters respectively.
The poll also revealed that, for the first time since September 2023, more Australians are satisfied with Anthony Albanese’s performance than not.
Australians are more concerned about Donald Trump’s (left) tariffs than Xi Jinping’s (right) military threat
Anthony Albanese (pictured) has found himself in positive territory in the polls for the first time since September 2023
The primary votes of the Coalition and One Nation improved by one point to 30 and nine per cent, respectively, since last month’s first post-election Newspoll.
Labor remained at 36 per cent and holds a two-party-preferred vote over the Coalition at 56 to 44 per cent.
The Prime Minister’s personal popularity has returned to levels not seen since the cost-of-living crisis and voice referendum led to a slump in his approval ratings.
Albanese now has a net approval rating of plus-three, with 49 per cent of voters satisfied with the Labor leader’s performance and 46 per cent dissatisfied.
He has not been in positive territory since September 2023, when he recorded 47 per cent and 44 per cent satisfaction and dissatisfaction ratings.
The Prime Minister’s current rating is the highest it’s been since July 2023, when 52 per cent of voters rated his performance positively.
Sussan Ley, who took over as leader of the Coalition following Peter Dutton’s departure, has seen her performance ratings drop since last month’s poll.
She had a net approval rating of minus-seven last month, similar to Dutton’s levels following the 2022 election.
However, Ley has seen the gap widen to minus-nine.
Half of Coalition voters were more concerned about China’s military threat while 55 per cent of Labor voters were more worried about Trump’s tariffs
After the election, the Coalition experienced its worst result for the Liberal/Nationals parties since Newspoll first compared primary vote levels in November 1985.
The first post-election poll had Labor at 36 per cent compared with the Coalition’s 29 per cent.
Labor won the May 3 election after securing 34.6 per cent of the primary vote.
Support for the opposition remains below the 31.8 per cent primary vote won by the Coalition in May.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation rose a point to nine per cent while the Greens remained steady at 12 per cent.
Others, including independents and minor parties, fell from 15 to 13 per cent.
