A new poll by the Lowy Institute shows that 75 per cent of Australians think the federal government has done a poor job on climate change.
But support for taking tough action against climate change appears to have declined, with only 46 per cent of Australians supporting it – down seven percentage points from last year, the Lowy Institute says.
Support for "the most aggressive form of action" slipped with 41 per cent saying global warming is a "serious and pressing problem, " which justifies that action that involves significant costs.
The survey also found that 62 per cent of Australians do not support the building of more nuclear power plants in Australia. Forty-six per cent were strongly against it.
ASYLUM SEEKERS
The Lowy survey also reflects that two thirds of those asked are concerned about asylum-seekers coming to Australia by boat – down six percentage points from 2010.
Some 88 per cent, say asylum seekers arriving by boat are "queue jumpers" and 86 per cent say they pose a potential security risk to Australia and 85 per cent believe too much money is spent on processing them.
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
The survey also found that support for the conflict in Afghanistan is down, with 59 per cent of Australians now opposed to our continued army commitment there, up five percentage points from last year.
The poll was conducted between March 30 and April 14, 2011 and involved more than 1,000 interviewees aged 18 years or over.
