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Responses to COVID-19Responses to COVID-19
About the author
Natasha Kassam
Natasha Kassam was Director of the Lowy Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program from 2019 to 2022, directing the annual Lowy Institute Poll and researching China’s politics, Taiwan, and Australia-China relations.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the world, Australians are extremely confident in Australia’s response but unimpressed by the performance of many global powers and, in particular, that of the United States. While nine out of ten Australians (93%) say Australia has handled the outbreak very or fairly well so far, only 10% say the same thing about the United States.
According to Australians, China has outperformed America, with 31% saying China has handled the outbreak very or fairly well. Among other countries polled, most Australians (79%) also say Singapore has handled COVID-19 very or fairly well. The virus has taken a heavy toll in the United Kingdom and Italy, and less than a third of Australians say that the United Kingdom (30%) has handled the outbreak well, while only 15% say Italy has handled it well. The United States is last on the list of countries, with only 10% of Australians saying it has handled the outbreak very or fairly well so far.
This negative assessment of the United States’ management of the crisis coincides with mixed views of the United States’ power in the world. In 2020, the majority of Australians (53%) say that the United States will be less powerful than it was before the crisis. This is 20 points higher than the response in 2009 after the global financial crisis, when a third (33%) said the United States would be less powerful than it was before the crisis. Four in ten Australians (41%) say the United States will be just as powerful as before the crisis, while 6% say the United States will be more powerful.
When considering the US presidential election in November, seven in ten Australians (73%) prefer former Vice President Joe Biden as the next US President, equal to Australian support for Barack Obama’s candidacy in 2008.6 Although US handling of the coronavirus crisis is seen very negatively, support for the presidency of Donald Trump has increased from a low base, with 23% favouring his bid for re-election in 2020, a 12-point jump from Australians’ views prior to the 2016 US election.
The COVID-19 crisis has tempered Australians’ expectations of China’s power in the future. While a third (37%) say China will be more powerful than it was before the crisis, this is much lower than the 72% who said in 2009 that China would be more powerful after the global financial crisis. A third (36%) also now say China will be just as powerful, with 27% saying China will be less powerful than it was before the crisis.
China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and its system of government as an authoritarian one-party state has been subject to heightened scrutiny in Australia. When thinking about China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, most Australians (68%) feel less favourably towards China’s system of government. A quarter (27%) say they feel the same about China’s system of government, while 5% say they are more favourable.
With parts of Europe hit hard by the virus, Australians are divided about its future. Around half (48%) say Europe’s power will be reduced after the COVID-19 crisis, almost the same number (46%) say it will be just as powerful as before the crisis, and 5% say Europe will be more powerful.
