Almost half of Australians nominate Islamic radicalisation as main global threat, followed by a Donald Trump presidency, poll finds

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

One in five Australians have rated a Trump presidency as the biggest threat to international peace and stability in a new opinion poll.



The new Essential poll published on Tuesday found 42% of Australians surveyed nominated Daesh and Islamic radicalisation as the number one threat to international peace and stability when presented with a list of seven options.

Second behind the terror threat was a Trump presidency, which was nominated by 21% of the survey as the biggest current security threat.

Eleven percent of the sample nominated a growing level of inequality, and only 6% nominated global warming.



The survey suggests Australians remain worried about acts of terror carried out on Australian soil. Around three quarters of respondents, 72%, said they were concerned about an attack in Australia, and 24% of that group are very concerned.

The same percentage believes the threat of terrorism happening in Australia has increased over the last few years.

Essential says that level of concern is consistent with results from March 2015, October 2015 and November 2016, but is substantially higher than the survey from September 2014, just prior to the Lindt Café siege.

A large percentage of survey respondents, 81%, said they supported measures preventing dual nationals who are suspected of fighting in Syria from returning to Australia.

But there was also strong community support (79% of the survey) for de-radicalisation programs.

While security fears and the spectre of a Trump presidency is evidently high on the minds of Australian voters – people appear largely unmoved by the issue which nominally triggered this year’s federal election, reconstituting the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Support for reviving the ABCC in the latest poll stood at 36%, and opposition at 16%. The remaining 48% of the sample ‘neither support or oppose’ (24%) or ‘don’t know’ (24%).

The survey was divided over whether the issue should be a priority, with 39% rating it important compared to the other issues the government needs to address and 38% suggesting it wasn’t important.