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Australia and the Pacific
About the author
Ryan Neelam
Ryan Neelam was Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute. He led the flagship annual Lowy Institute Poll, was project director for the Global Diplomacy Index, and wrote about climate diplomacy and multilateral policy.
When the Albanese government assumed office in May 2022, it placed a high priority on improving relations with Pacific Island countries. In a new question this year, Australians were asked about the state of the country’s ties with its Pacific neighbours. Half (49%) think that Australia’s relations with Pacific Island countries are ‘staying about the same’, with the remainder roughly divided between those who think relations are improving (26%) and those who think relations are worsening (22%).
Australians remain overwhelmingly in favour of using aid to fund a range of objectives in Pacific Island countries. Almost all (92%) support providing aid for disaster relief, unchanged from 2022.
The vast majority of Australians favour providing aid ‘to help prevent China from increasing its influence in the Pacific’ (84%) as well as providing aid to the Pacific for ‘long-term economic development’ (83%), both steady on last year. Similarly, eight in ten (80%) support providing Covid-19 vaccines to Pacific Island countries, although this fell six points from last year. Support for climate-related aid to the Pacific remains steady at 76%.
