‘Frosty on Trump’: Australians eager for more independence from the US

Australians are voicing a strong desire for the country to assert more independence from the United States amid Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency, with most voters saying they do not blame Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to secure a meeting with the US president.

The latest Resolve Political Monitor survey of more than 2300 people, conducted for this masthead, found that most Australians continue to have strongly negative views of Trump six months after he re-entered the White House.

Fewer than one in five Australian voters believe Trump’s election was a good outcome for Australia.

Steer clear: Just 18 per cent of Australians believe Donald Trump’s election was good for Australia.Credit: AP

When asked whether it would be a good or a bad thing for Australia to become more independent of the US on foreign policy and national security, 46 per cent of respondents said they believed it would be a good thing, compared with 22 per cent who said it would be a bad thing.

When compared along political lines, 56 per cent of Labor voters said they supported Australia adopting a more independent foreign policy and just 12 per cent opposed the idea.

Coalition voters were evenly split, with 34 per cent favouring more distance from its closest security partner while 35 per cent said it would be bad to become more independent of the US.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all Australian goods, as well as a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium imports.

The Trump administration has also called for Australia to dramatically increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, while launching a review into the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact.

Since his re-election, Albanese has stressed the importance of Australian sovereignty and said his government would not commit to joining the United States in a hypothetical war with China over Taiwan.

On Sunday, Albanese insisted that the decision to allow beef from North America to enter Australia was “made independently at arm’s length of any political decision”, even though Trump has claimed credit for forcing the move.

Albanese also said he had not discussed the issue with Trump, rejecting a claim from Trade Minister Don Farrell that the leaders had discussed beef restrictions in one of their three telephone calls.

“I made a mistake,” Farrell told this masthead, adding that he had confused Trump’s remarks about Australian beef in the White House rose garden with a conversation between the two leaders.

Resolve pollster Jim Reed said: “Australians are quite frosty on Trump, and it looks like his tariffs have cruelled any chances of thawing their hearts any time soon.

“Liberation Day brought home a real consequence to his erratic proclamations.

“There are a handful of countries with which Australia enjoys a special relationship, the US among them. That affinity holds true, but it’s becoming strained, particularly on trade.”

Reed said that many Australians “would like to see us become more independent of the US, but they can also appreciate that our defence interests are dependent on them”.

As the Coalition continues to criticise Albanese for failing to secure a meeting with Trump since his inauguration, just 26 per cent of Australians said they believe Albanese is most responsible for the lack of a meeting.

By contrast, 38 per cent of Australians said they believe Trump and the US are most responsible for the fact the leaders have not met. Seventeen per cent of respondents said both leaders were busy and the lack of a meeting was no one’s fault.

Albanese was expected to meet Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in June, but the meeting was cancelled when Trump returned early to Washington to deal with Israel’s war against Iran.

“It used to be the case that meeting or hosting the leader of the free world would improve a prime minister’s standing, and perhaps lead to tangible outcomes too, but there would be little for Albanese to gain right now,” Reed said.

Albanese has a strong chance of meeting Trump in September, either at a potential meeting of the “Quad” nations in India, or during a trip to the United States for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The poll, conducted from July 13 to 18, found just 18 per cent of Australians believe Trump’s election was good for Australia, compared with 53 per cent who believed it was bad.

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