What Aussies think about Americans

A new study has just been released: Australian Attitudes Towards the United States - National Opinion Survey - Part One This first part targets policy issues, and comes on the heels of Bush’s recent visit to the country.

I tend to draw quite a few ‘why do Australian hate Americans’ Google hits. I’m not sure why, but I guess I have argued the distinction between Americans and the US Government Administration in the past.

I’m still going through the research notes, but I will highlight some of the media grabs for now.

“Australians have suffered a dramatic loss of confidence in the ability of the US to manage international affairs amid growing dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush and his conduct of the Iraq war.” The Australian

“And almost three-quarters said Australia's involvement in the war on terror had made it a terrorist target, a view at odds with that asserted by John Howard.” The Australian

“92 per cent of respondents still expected the US to remain a close security partner and 79 per cent considered the alliance important to Australia's protection. But nearly half believed it would be better for Australia to remain more independent (48 per cent), the newspaper reported.” SMH

“Australians value the US alliance but don't like US President George W. Bush and are sceptical about Washington's ability to deal with world problems.” AFP

“The survey found more Australians were favourably disposed toward Britain (87 percent) and Japan (75) than the United States (59), which ranked just above China (57)” AFP