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Feelings thermometer
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.
For the first time, Russia has fallen to the bottom of the Lowy Institute ‘feelings thermometer’, a measurement of Australians’ perceptions about countries, territories and institutions on a scale of 0° (coldest feelings) to 100° (warmest feelings).
Russia registers an icy 19°, a 22-degree drop in a single year, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This represents the greatest single-year fall in the history of the Lowy Institute Poll feelings thermometer.
By contrast, Australians feel very warmly towards Ukraine, with the country receiving a reading of 69°, 18 degrees higher than the last time Ukraine featured on the thermometer in 2015. Australians feel the same level of warmth towards France (69°).
While Russia has replaced China at the bottom of the feelings thermometer, feelings towards China in 2022 remain very cool at 33°. Australian views of Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country remain largely unchanged at a cool 36°. Attitudes towards Myanmar have warmed marginally since 2021, marking a five-degree improvement to reach 46°.
Both India and Indonesia receive warm readings of 57°, marking Indonesia’s highest result in 17 years. Australians feel warmly towards the United Nations and the European Union, registering 61° and 62° respectively.
South Korea (63°), Taiwan (64°) and Vietnam (64°) all receive warm readings in 2022. Feelings towards Papua New Guinea are stable at 61°, and Tonga registers 67°. Feelings towards the United States have warmed three degrees to 65° in the second year of the Biden administration.
Feelings towards Japan (74°), the United Kingdom (77°) and Canada (80°) remain very warm in 2022. This year, New Zealand again leads the feelings thermometer, receiving a very warm 86°, steady from 2021.
