Essential Research: coronavirus and attitudes to China

A major souring in Australians’ attitudes to China but little change on coronavirus (at least since last week), according to the latest Essential poll.

Another week, another Essential Research coronavirus poll — this one focusing on attitudes to China, which have notably soured. As related by The Guardian, respondents were asked if they had a favourable or unfavourable view of China’s influences on Australian life, which produced a net rating of minus 30% on trade, compared with plus 1% last August, and a net rating of minus 40% for Chinese business operating in Australia, down from minus 21%. There were also scores of minus 26% for defence, minus 36% for politics and minus 9% for culture. Conversely, the United States scored net positive scores, albeit that these were quite a lot bigger for defence (plus 29%), business (plus 15%) and trade (plus 14%) than politics (plus 2%) and culture (plus 7%).

Asked which relationship would be more beneficial to strengthen, 42% favoured the US and 18% China, compared with 38% and 28% last August. Respondents had two bob each way on trade in that 53% thought Australia “needs to do all it can to avoid a trade war with China”, with 17% opposed, but 48% felt Australia should impose retaliatory tariffs, with 22% opposed. The poll found “more than half” believe China’s trade sanctions against Australia were motivated by the government’s call for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

The poll continued its weekly suite of questions on coronavirus, recording no change on the government’s handling of the crisis, which was rated positively by 73% and negatively by 11%. Levels of concern little changed on last week (79% either very or quite concerned, down one, and 21% either not at all or not that concerned, up one). A divide appears to be opening on restrictions, with higher responses for both lifting them as soon as possible (up five to 14%) and holding off (up two to 27%). The poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1087; a full report should be published later today.

Note that below this post is a dedicated thread for the Eden-Monaro by-election, which you are encouraged to use if you have something specific to say on that subject.

UPDATE: Full report here.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

2,091 comments on “Essential Research: coronavirus and attitudes to China”

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  3. lizzie @ #146 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 9:46 am

    Josh Frydenberg has declined the Covid-19 Senate committee’s invitation to appear in person, offering instead Mathias Cormann as his Senate representative to answer questions about the $60bn jobkeeper bungle.

    Because Cormann can be relied upon to waffle endlessly in response.

    Isn’t that his nickname, the Belgian Waffle? 🙂

  5. Barney in Tanjung Bunga

    One of the reasons things are named scientifically is so the focus is on the the science and not irrelevant bullshit.

    Nailed it.

    Hopefully that’s the end of the argument.

  7. P1

    Surely it’s fair to assume that if you post a link without comment you agree with what it is saying?

    In general, yes.

    Often, that’s not the case. My intent is to throw alternative viewpoints into the mix, a mix which day after day is essentially the same.

    As I have stated many times, I come to PB because I am exposed to other views. Many people enjoy an echo chamber; it’s safe and cognitive dissonance can be kept to a bearable low level.

    As an ‘other’, long may you post!

  9. Rakali

    I don’t know.

    However Monica Attard worked in Moscow as her journalistic post so I trust her judgement over a lot of people in these things.

    Edit: sorry to be clearer in posting it. I don’t think it matters if its a spoof or not. The clue to being a spoof is the should have come to Officeworks. I am not sure its their tagline.

  11. Regarding naming pathogens after places…
    The most recent strain of Norovirus is called Norovirus GII.4 Sydney. It was discovered in 2012, and replaced GII.4 New Orleans as the dominant strain.
    No imputation was intended to Sydney, or to New Orleans before it.

  13. I am so glad to see a Science Party candidate standing in Eden-Monaro:

    James Jansson (Science)
    Fiona Kotvojs (Liberal)
    Kristy McBain (Labor)
    Dean McCrae (Liberal Democrats)
    Karen Porter (Independent)

    He would certainly get my 2nd preference.

  15. I wish Mike Carlton would come here to PB to talk with us instead of spending his days on Twitter.

    He couldnt handle the heat.

  16. Kakaru

    The difference is the Norovirus was naming was not used as a racist trope in either location name.
    Its why we just know it as the Norovirus.

    The location only comes up when needed.

  17. “Firefox back on the Finger-Pointing bandwagon again:”

    ***

    Actually, that would be you. You say this and then go on to spend the rest of your post doing nothing but finger-pointing and blaming the Chinese for the spread of the virus. Could they have handled the response better? Sure, hindsight is a wonderful thing. But that still doesn’t mean they deserve to be blamed for COVID-19 in the first place. Why do people always need someone to blame? It’s a virus! You would think that China’s massive population alone makes it the most likely place for something like this to happen to humans. A virus like this was always going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to contain. Again I say that humans are not all powerful.

  20. New Liberals candidate Karen Porter steps up for Eden-Monaro byelection

    https://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/6763395/bringing-back-the-love-to-eden-monaro/

    Ms Porter has announced her intention to stand as an independent candidate in the upcoming byelection, under the banner of new political group The New Liberals.

    It remains to be seen whether that party name is accepted under parliamentary rules, but Ms Porter said the New Liberals’ core values align closely with her own – particularly consideration of climate action, a focus on health, and investment in development and entrepreneurship.

    ——-

    Karen Porter profile: https://www.thenewliberals.net.au/karen-porter-eden-monaro-by-election/

  21. Player One @ #249 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 9:29 am

    Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #225 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 10:59 am

    Surely it’s fair to assume that if you post a link without comment you agree with what it is saying?

    In general, yes. So what? Pegasus does nothing that many other posters do not do. In this case, however, she did comment that it was worth reading. What more should she have to say?

    At least you’ve dropped the insult to BK.

    Why is it worth reading? What’s it about?

    I’m not going to read something just on someone’s say so, it could be on a topic I have no interest in.

    Do you single Pegasus out because she regularly posts stuff you don’t agree with … or at least you think you don’t, since you don’t actually bother to read them?

    No, as I’ve said before she usually makes no attempt to try and generate a conversation by offering anything that comes close to an opinion.

    Do you, like many of the Labor partisans here, believe that only opinions that match your own limited viewpoint should be allowed here?

    My support for Labor comes from them being the only realistic option for progressive change in Australia at this time.

    By the way she doesn’t usually offer an opinion, so there is nothing to match mine with hers.

  23. guytaur says:
    The difference is the Norovirus was naming was not used as a racist trope in either location name.
    Its why we just know it as the Norovirus.

    The location only comes up when needed.
    —————————————
    Splitting hairs because just before you said it was defending racist to say i would have no issue if a virus being first seen in Melbourne then being called the Melbourne virus yet you now say its sometimes okay.

  24. B

    I’m not going to read something just on someone’s say so

    Sure, you don’t read any of the articles linked to by others. Do you read the articles BK selects?

  25. Mexican

    We don’t call the Norovirus the New Orleans or Sydney Virus. We call it the Norovirus.

    We then only add location when relevant. I am doing no contradiction here. You do not have a “gotcha”

  26. “Rakali says:
    Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 11:37 am
    guytaur
    Is that real or fake? I doubt Officworks would criticise the Liberals.”

    Presumably photoshopped – however Wesfarmers (Officeworks’ owner) would not be happy with the government after Littleproud incited a consumer boycott over the closure of some Target stores.

  31. There are generally 3 classifications of countries – Developed, developing and sometimes Economies in Transition. wrt climate change commitments it is expressed a little differently – Annex 1, non-annex 1, EITs and LDC (Least developed Countries).

    Generally they are aligned to GNI, or PPP – per capita. And when you look at that, China ranks down about 68th in the world.

    When it comes to climate change there is a recognition that not only are the richest countries able to do more of the heavy lifting but that the poorer countries trying to develop shouldnt be held back by restricting access to cheap energy – access that was not denied wealthy countries as they were developing. Within this there is a tacit acknowledgement that Climate change has been caused by those wealthy countries and is no more the fault of the developing world than it is the fault of the man on the moon.

    However, it is undeniably true that all countries need to act on emmissions and we can not address climate change without those rapidly developing large countries like China, Brazil and India transitioning to cleaner energy. The agreements recognise this and commitments have been made by those large developing countries. And I agree these commitments need to be stronger…. but when you see much richer countries being recalcitrant – like Australia and the US – it is harder to pressure China and India, especially when you consider the economic, hegemonic and emissions history.

  33. This is worth watching. It’s an online celebrity Doctor giving his opinion of Plandemic (which for those that don’t know is an hour long piece of vapid Bullshite confected by a disgruntled scientist and funded by an Antivaxer group) however what he says about the Covid-19 situation rings true. Which is that a conspiracy theory is not needed to explain why we are where we are. Basically governments are sh*tshows at the best of times let alone when trying to deal with something like this virus.

    Australia is lucky because we are 1. Isolated and easily isolatable and 2. Have a model of federation that allows different juristictions to act together or in opposition. Thus we’ve got a shitshow thanks to the Federal and NSW governments AKA Ruby Princess with other states acting in their own best interests.

    https://zdoggmd.com/conspiracy-plandemic/

  34. Barney

    Sometimes I post links only. The links consist of words. I judge them to be enough for people to decide to click on the link to read it or not in those cases.

    Pegasus does more than that most of the time. A clue is the oft repeated whine of slabs of copy and paste.

  35. Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #271 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 11:49 am

    Player One @ #249 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 9:29 am

    Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #225 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 10:59 am

    Surely it’s fair to assume that if you post a link without comment you agree with what it is saying?

    In general, yes. So what? Pegasus does nothing that many other posters do not do. In this case, however, she did comment that it was worth reading. What more should she have to say?

    At least you’ve dropped the insult to BK.

    Don’t be absurd. I was not insulting BK. I was insulting you, for being such an ass. Sorry if that didn’t come across.

  36. ‘They are poverty wages’: Top unionist calls for living wage for front-line workers

    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/they-are-poverty-wages-top-unionist-calls-for-living-wage-for-front-line-workers-20200525-p54w2u.html

    One of the world’s most powerful union leaders has urged governments to use the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to introduce a living wage, arguing the crisis demonstrates why front-line workers such as nurses and shop assistants deserve greater financial reward.

    Sharan Burrow, the secretary-general of the International Trade Union Confederation, the peak global union body, said the pandemic had “exposed, in a really dramatic way, the vulnerabilities of the global economy” and called for workers to receive a greater share of national income at shareholders’ expense.

    A true unionist who wasn’t seduced by the siren call of a sinecure as a Labor parliamentarian.

  37. He couldn’t handle the fabricated arguments over nothing.

    Pffft and twaddle. We tackle the biggest most mundane questions with gusto; no fear or favour here. It is thumbs to the corners and fight till the scroll wheel starts to smoke.

  40. Player One @ #285 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 10:00 am

    Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #271 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 11:49 am

    Player One @ #249 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 9:29 am

    Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #225 Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 – 10:59 am

    Surely it’s fair to assume that if you post a link without comment you agree with what it is saying?

    In general, yes. So what? Pegasus does nothing that many other posters do not do. In this case, however, she did comment that it was worth reading. What more should she have to say?

    At least you’ve dropped the insult to BK.

    Don’t be absurd. I was not insulting BK. I was insulting you, for being such an ass. Sorry if that didn’t come across.

    Well naming BK certainly didn’t insult me.

  41. “Finger pointing”…

    Actually, that would be you. You say this and then go on to spend the rest of your post doing nothing but finger-pointing and blaming the Chinese for the spread of the virus.

    The old “You can’t accuse me of finger-pointing, because that’s finger-pointing!” response, eh? Noting that China let the virus out via a deliberate decision not to interfere in Lunar New Year celebrations is not finger-pointing. It’s the truth.

    Could they have handled the response better? Sure, hindsight is a wonderful thing. But that still doesn’t mean they deserve to be blamed for COVID-19 in the first place.

    No-one blamed them for the virus, but it is correct to point out they permitted it, by omitting to act in quarantining the virus, to be spread around the World.

    The Chinese know this. It’s why they are resisting a truly independent inquiry, and why they are threatening anyone who wants one with trade sanctions.

  45. Elizabeth Marr
    @JmarrMarr
    ·
    I was so insulted by his claim that #TAFE has failed to respond to employers needs. That’s a blatant, stinking lie, the shrinking of #TAFE by cutting courses, sacking teachers & closing locations is what has failed. The lying bastardry of the Liberal/Nats is epic

  48. P1

    lol BinBT has the self-awareness of a….
    ——–

    BinBT

    lol Scared to offer my opinion…. is anyone else laughing as much as I am.

    And yet I do offer opinions from time to time, something you always conveniently ignore. How superior of you to suggest I have no opinions. Why is it so important to you I express my opinions? (Rhetorical question).

    As I have reiterated over the years…I engage one-on-one, face-to-face with real people in the real world. If that doesn’t suffice for you, well, what can I say but too bad.

  49. Palaszczuk returns fire after Birmingham attacked Queensland (and only Queensland) for its border controls, reminding him that he lives in SA which also has border controls.

    Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has been told to “speak to his own Premier” before diving into decisions by other states around border closures.

    Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk pointed to the fact that the minister, who this morning suggested Queensland was “pretending” there had not been success in suppressing COVID-19 across the country, also lived in a state still under lockdown.

    (SMH updates at 10:48)

  50. BB

    Please don’t shame people who are unemployed through no fault of their own in an argument.

    Leave it to the LNP. This is a common failing on this blog so this is not personal.

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