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Australia’s alliance with the United StatesAustralia’s alliance with the United States
About the author
Natasha Kassam
Natasha Kassam was Director of the Lowy Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program from 2019 to 2022, directing the annual Lowy Institute Poll and researching China’s politics, Taiwan, and Australia-China relations.
Australians have reported strong support for Australia’s alliance with the United States over the 17 years of the Lowy Institute Poll, despite fluctuating levels of confidence in US leaders. Overall support for the alliance has remained steady between the final year of President Donald Trump’s administration and the first year of President Joe Biden’s administration. A clear majority (78%, steady since 2020) continue to say that the alliance is either ‘very important’ or ‘fairly important’ to Australia’s security. The number who say the alliance is very important to Australia’s security has increased 4 points this year to 47% of the population.
By comparison, the low point of Australian support for the alliance was during of the George W Bush presidency in 2007, when 63% of Australians said the alliance was very or fairly important for Australia’s security. The 2021 result remains 9 points below the highest levels of support expressed in 2012, during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
This slight boost in support for the alliance in 2021 may in part reflect the far higher confidence Australians express in President Joe Biden than former President Donald Trump. More than three-quarters of Australians (76%, a slight increase of 3 points since 2019) say ‘Australians and Americans share many common values and ideals. A strong alliance is a natural extension of this’. The same number (75%) say ‘The United States would come to Australia’s defence if Australia was under threat’, unchanged since 2019.
Fewer Australians this year (58%) agree that ‘Donald Trump has weakened Australia’s alliance with the United States’ (down 8 points since 2019). Fewer Australians also perceive the United States as a declining power compared with China than in the past. In 2021, only one-third (36%) say ‘the United States is in decline relative to China and so the alliance is of decreasing importance’, a view held by almost half the population (46%) in 2019.
However, there are stark generational differences on all of these questions about Australia’s alliance with the United States. Seven in ten Australians aged 18–29 (70%) say Donald Trump weakened the alliance. Half this group (50%) say the United States is in decline relative to China and the alliance is less important, 19 points higher than among Australians over 60 years of age.
By contrast, the oldest generation of Australians surveyed (60 years and over) overwhelmingly agree that Australia and the United States share common values and ideals (89%) and that the United States would defend Australia if under threat (84%). The youngest generation of Australians (18–29 year olds) are less likely to concur on both statements, with 61% and 62% agreeing respectively.
