Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
United StatesUnited States
About the author
Ryan Neelam
Ryan Neelam was Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute. He led the flagship annual Lowy Institute Poll, was project director for the Global Diplomacy Index, and wrote about climate diplomacy and multilateral policy.
Despite declining trust in the United States and its president, the Australia–US alliance, known as ANZUS, continues to enjoy widespread support among Australians. In 2024, the vast majority of Australians (83%) say the alliance is ‘very important’ or ‘fairly important’ to Australia’s security, steady from last year, and five points below a record high of 87% in 2022.
Australians’ broad support for the alliance has been one of the most resilient features over two decades of Lowy Institute polling, largely withstanding leadership changes and political swings in the United States. Nevertheless, on average, Australians placed more importance on the alliance during the terms of presidents Obama and Biden than they did during the terms of presidents Bush and Trump.
Australians’ views of the United States and the alliance defy simple characterisation. Although more than six in ten (63%) say that the alliance makes Australia safer from attack or pressure from China, when they look to the future, three-quarters (75%) also believe the alliance makes it more likely Australia will be drawn into a war in Asia.
US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump are their parties’ presumptive nominees for the 2024 US presidential election. President Biden is the clear favourite for Australians, with two-thirds (68%) preferring to see him elected.
A significant minority of Australians, nearly one in three (29%), would prefer to see Donald Trump elected. A preference for Trump is higher among those who lean politically towards One Nation (78%) or the Liberal–National Coalition (46%) than those who lean towards Labor or the Greens (both 14%).
When asked similar questions in the lead-up to the four most recent US presidential elections, a clear majority of Australians expressed a preference for the Democratic over the Republican candidate. However, support for Donald Trump in Australia has risen markedly compared to his previous two presidential candidacies in 2020 and 2016, and is higher than support for any Republican presidential candidate included in past editions of the Lowy institute Poll.
