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Budget priorities
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.
At a time when Australia has made substantial commitments in defence spending, a slim majority of Australians (51%) say defence spending should be increased. This marks a sizeable 20-point increase since 2019 in the proportion of Australians who want to increase defence expenditure.
Nonetheless, Australians continue to prioritise domestic spending over foreign policy issues when considering the federal budget. A large majority of Australians would increase spending in health (83%) and education (69%) if they were making up the budget for the federal government. More than half (56%) say spending on social welfare should be increased, up nine points since 2019.
Australians are divided when it comes to border protection, with 39% saying Australia should increase spending, a seven-point lift since 2019. However, more Australians (44%) say spending on border protection should be kept at about the current level.
Foreign aid has not historically been popular with the Australian public. In 2022, cuts to the aid budget have become less popular. Four in ten (42%) say spending on foreign aid should be kept around current levels, an increase of six points since 2019. A third (34%) continue to say that foreign aid spending should be decreased, representing a 13-point fall since 2019. Around a quarter of Australians (24%) say Australia should increase spending on foreign aid, an increase of seven points since 2019.
