Essential poll and Newspoll finds support for US president’s immigration measures highest among supporters of fringe parties

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Australians are evenly divided on Donald Trump’s ban on travel from a group of Muslim-majority nations, two new polls have found.

The Essential poll of 1,014 voters, released on Tuesday, found 41% of Australians supported a “ban on people from Muslim countries from entering Australia”. That compared with 46% who opposed a ban and 14% who didn’t know.

Tuesday’s Newspoll found that 44% of respondents believe Australia should take similar measures to Trump’s executive order, 45% ­oppose doing so and 11% were uncommitted.

Through the executive order Trump suspended visas being issued for 90 days to migrants or travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, stopped all refugee arrivals into the US for 120 days and banned Syrian refugees indefinitely.



The Essential poll found support for a travel ban on Muslim countries was highest among voters of “other” parties, with 66% in favour and 25% opposed. Coalition voters were the next most likely to support it, with 48% in favour and 38% opposed.

A majority of Labor voters were against a ban, with 59% opposed and 31% in favour. Greens voters were most opposed with 75% against a ban and just 15% in favour.

When asked specifically about whether they approved of Trump’s executive order in the US, the Essential poll found support fell to 36%, disapproval was 49% and 14% remained undecided.

The Newspoll, which questioned 1,734 voters, found support highest among Coalition voters, with 52% backing the travel ban, compared with 39% opposed and 9% uncommitted.

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The results of the two polls are broadly in line with an Essential poll released in September that found 49% of Australians backed a ban on Muslim migration, while 40% opposed the idea.



That poll followed One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s first Senate speech in which she claimed Australia was in danger of being “swamped” by Muslims and called for a ban on migration to Australia by Muslims.

Some members of the Turnbull government have lent support to Trump’s ban, with former immigration minister Scott Morrison maintaining the rest of the world was now “catching up” with Australia’s harsh immigration policies and MP George Christensen calling it “a sensible policy for national security in the present climate”.

Trade minister Stephen Ciobo said he would not support the ban.

Malcolm Turnbull has stressed Australia’s non-discriminatory immigration policy but refused to denounce the Trump travel ban because he claimed it was a domestic policy of the US and not his job to comment.

Tuesday’s Essential poll found 53% of voters agreed with Turnbull’s response, 36% disagreed with it and 12% were undecided.



The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, called Trump’s travel ban “appalling” and said banning refugees by religion or country “ought to be ended as soon as possible”.

The ban caused chaos at American airports and prompted a federal judge to order a temporary halt on the order, restoring travel for refugees and for people from the seven countries.

In Australia thousands of people attended protests on Saturday denouncing the US president’s immigration ban and demanding an end to Australia’s offshore processing policy of asylum seekers.

The Essential poll found Labor had a two-party preferred vote of 53% to the Coalition’s 47%, down from its 54-46 lead two weeks ago.