In the Lowy Institute's 2013 poll less than half of those aged 18-26 say they favour democracy over other systems

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Australia's youth are showing a "disturbing complacency" with less than half saying they prefer democracy over other kinds of government, and many Australians are wary of our closest neighbours, according to the Lowy Institute's 2013 poll.

The poll on Australian attitudes towards the world, which was released on Monday, found the nation's younger generation (aged 18-29) are less conservative than their older counterparts in a number of areas. They are less inclined to spend more on defence, more supportive of increasing Asian immigration, and are the only age group not to have a majority in favour of offshore processing of asylum seekers.

Of the younger age group, 46% are in favour of the policy of processing the claims of asylum seekers away from the Australian mainland, compared with 62% of Australians over 30.

"The sort of stances that young people take tend to err more on the liberal side," said Alex Oliver, author of the poll, in an explanation of the results.

However, less than half of young Australians (48%) say they prefer democracy over any other form of government.

Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove said, "The continuation of this theme of only a minority of millenials believing a democracy is preferable to any other kind of government does show a disturbing complacency when one looks at the other forms of government that exist in other countries."

This level is still an increase on 2012 when the preference was at 39%.

"This is a phenomenon that needs to be better understood if we value participation in the civic life of the nation," Oliver added.

The Lowy Institute has polled the same question in India, Indonesia and Fiji in the last two years, and Oliver said, "Australian young people of that age group were the least wedded to the idea of democracy."

Overall, Australians preferring democracy is better, at 59%, but still lower than neighbouring nations.

In their most recent polls, 70% of Indians and 62% of Indonesians surveyed agree with the key statement.

The results raise concerns that young people do not fully understand the nature of democracy, both here and among our neighbours, as other attitudes were contradictorily favourable towards specific aspects of a democratic government, such as the right to vote, a free media, and free expression.

"I wonder if there's a definitional issue here with young Australians, whether they understand what they're talking about [with] democracy," said Oliver.

As an example of this possible ignorance, Oliver pointed out that, despite the fact that Indonesia transitioned to democratic rule over ten years ago, just 30% of Australians believe the country is a democracy.

Australia's attitude towards Indonesia sits low, at 53 degrees on the "thermometer", which rates how people feel about other nations. We are warmest towards Great Britain (77 degrees) and coolest towards North Korea (31 degrees).

The majority of Australians polled believe Australia "is right to worry about Indonesia as a military threat" and that "Indonesia is a dangerous source of terrorism".

In a new question added this year, the poll found most Australians (68%) believe our leaders have struck the right balance between fighting terrorism and protecting the rights of citizens.

Of those polled, 19% believe the government has gone too far in fighting terrorism, and 11% say there is too much emphasis on protecting our rights.

Despite the favourable response to government actions against terrorism, the poll is bad news for Labor, as it reveals Australians overwhelmingly believe the Coalition would do a better job in five of eight key areas.

According to the poll results, Australians believe the Coalition would do a better job of managing the economy, foreign investment, asylum seekers, the US alliance, and national security.

All results are in favour of the Coalition by more than two to one.

Labor is seen to be more on top of managing our relationship with China and responding to climate change, but the margins are much smaller – just 4% and 5% respectively.

Public opposition to a carbon price and an emissions trading scheme has fallen since last year from 63% to 58%.

The same number of people as in 2012 are in favour of a Coalition government removing the Labor-legislated emissions trading scheme – 57%.

The steady decline of serious concern about global warming has reversed this year – increasing by four points to 40%, although it is still well below the 68% of 2006.

In the eighth area polled – managing Australia's relationship with China – there is no clear preference for Labor or the Coalition, although other data shows an "underlying ambivalence" in Australians' sentiments towards our Asian neighbour.

Of those surveyed, 57% think we allow too much investment from China, despite 76% believing it is the most important economy to Australia. Most see the Australia-US alliance as more important, although almost nine in ten believe it's possible for Australia to have a good relationship with both the US and China.

Most Australians believe China will replace the US as the world's leading superpower and 41% believe that China will eventually become a military threat.

"Australians have a basket of mixed feelings about China," said Fullilove.

Support for basing US forces on Australian soil has increased by six points since 2011 to 61%.

Fullilove said the poll illustrates why managing the Australia-US-China relationship will be a "central policy issue" for future Australian governments.

"Australians think it is possible to have good relations with both Washington and Beijing, but whether this optimism is warranted will depend in part on skilled Australian statecraft," he said.