Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
Government report cardGovernment report card
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.
Almost two years into the Labor government’s term in office, Australians were asked to give a score out of ten for its handling of a number of issues. Australians awarded the government its highest mark for ‘maintaining a strong alliance with the United States’ (6.6 out of 10), a small decline from 2023 (7.1).
Australians were moderately positive about the government’s management of relations with the Pacific Islands (5.8) and Southeast Asia (5.7).
On the question of the government ‘maintaining a capable defence force’, Australians were slightly less positive (5.3), as they were on its management of the relationship with China (5.3), a small decline from last year (5.8), notwithstanding the re-engagement between the two governments. The government received an average score (5.0) for management of the economy, a small decline from 5.7 last year.
Australians marked the government hardest on ‘responding to the Israel–Hamas war’ (4.2), ‘managing Australia’s approach to climate change’ (4.8), and ‘promoting and defending human rights internationally’ (4.9).
In 2021, the last time this question was asked of a Coalition government, Australians also awarded the highest marks for maintaining the US alliance (7.1). The then Coalition government scored a higher rating than the current Labor government for managing Australia’s economy (6.6), and slightly lower ratings than Labor for managing the relationship with China (5.1) and Australia’s approach to climate change (4.6).
