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The majority of Australians (62%) believe that Australian Newspapers should not have published the controversial cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammed and which have caused rioting in some countries and much international angst. Twenty-nine percent of Australians believe that Australian Newspapers should have published the cartoons while 9% are unable to say, a special Morgan Poll taken over the last two nights finds. Almost four in five Australians (78%) are aware of the Mohammed Cartoon controversy while 22% are unaware of the controversy.

Of those Australians who are aware of the cartoon controversy, 67% believe the cartoons should not have been published by Australian newspapers, 29% believe they should have been published and 4% are unable to say. However it is a different story amongst those who are unaware of the controversy surrounding the cartoons with less than half (44%) believing that the cartoons should not have been published, 31% believing they should have been published and 25% unable to say.

Gary Morgan says:

“A significant majority of Australians (62%) believe that the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed should not have been published in Australian Newspapers. Religious sensitivity was the reason given by many Australians however the most common response was more pragmatic: that publishing the cartoons would cause more trouble than it would be worth.

“Despite these concerns, 29% of Australians believe Australian newspapers should have published the cartoons citing freedom of speech and a history of cartoons lampooning figures from various other religions”.

SHOULD NOT publish the cartoons

Amongst those who believe the cartoons should not have been published, by far the most common sentiment expressed was that publishing the cartoons would not have been worth the trouble it would have caused. Some typical responses were: “If it’s going to cause a stink why bother?”, “Seeing the problems it caused elsewhere, we have a right to see it but we don’t want to provoke problems”, “It would just be a red rag to a bull” and “There is enough going on now, we don’t want to cause any more trouble”.

A number of Australians who shared this view were worried about the outbreak of violence, “We know what the results have been elsewhere - riots, embassies being burnt down”, “Everywhere they have been published there have been riots”, “It’s only going to incite violence” and “It just gives the fanatics more ammo to become violent, and they don’t need that opportunity”.

Many other Australians believed that the cartoons should not have been published as they are offensive, saying: “Offensive and insensitive to Muslims”, “You should not mock a religious figure”, “Because we need to show some respect for other people’s beliefs” and “There is a difference between freedom of speech and being gratuitously offensive — people should reject sacred religious symbols being needlessly ridiculed”.

Other Australians agreed and specifically acknowledged the sacred position of the Prophet Mohammed within Islam, saying: “The Prophet is a key religious figure in the Muslim faith and it would offend a lot of people”, “That’s their symbol. I’m a Catholic and if it was the Pope I would have laughed but for Muslims it is different”, and “It would cause problems for Muslims, the caricature is not part of their beliefs. It’s a respect thing”.

Amongst those who said that the cartoons should not have been published, freedom of speech, racism, the comic merit of the cartoons and the recent racial clashes in Sydney were other themes mentioned, although far less often than the themes mentioned above.

SHOULD publish the cartoons

Of those who believe the cartoons should have been published, freedom of speech was the reason most often mentioned for publishing the cartoons.

Common responses were: “It’s free speech, there shouldn’t be a problem”, “It’s a free press issue. It’s supposed to be a free country with free speech and that sort of thing”, “Freedom of expression. It’s within their rights” and “Because it’s a free country, freedom of speech, we’re letting other countries run us”.

Others commented that sacred icons from other religions were often drawn in cartoon and lampooned and the Prophet Mohammed should not be an exception, saying: “In our multicultural society we don’t have any problems poking fun at Jesus Christ or Buddha, why should Muslims be any different”, “They publish cartons against Christians and Jews. If you can’t take it, don’t give it” and “There have been plenty of cartoons about Jesus in the past so what’s the difference”.

Also common among the responses was the feeling that the cartoons are jokes and that people were over-reacting: “They’re only cartoons’, “We have cartoons on everything else, what are they worrying about”, “It’s a joke, get over it" and “I think the Muslims are being a bit precious, it’s only a cartoon.

Some others wanted to the cartoons published “to see what all the commotion is about”.

Ninety-six percent of respondents provided a reason for their views when asked why they believed the cartoons should, or should not, have been published, 4% did not provide a reason.

This special telephone Morgan Poll was conducted on the evenings of February 8/9, 2006, with an Australia-wide sample of 667 respondents aged 14 and over.                          

For further information:

Gary Morgan:        Office (03) 9224 5213      Mobile 0411 129 094       Home (03) 9419 3242
Michele Levine:   Office (03) 9224 5215       Mobile 0411 129 093       Home (03) 9817 3066 

Are you aware of the Mohammed Cartoon controversy?

Respondents were first asked: “Next about the Mohammed Cartoon Controversy. Recently a Danish Newspaper and other newspapers around the world have run cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Before today were you aware of the Mohammed Cartoon Controversy or not?”

Men (82%) are more likely than women (75%) to be aware of the cartoon controversy while at least 4 in 5 Australians over the age of 25 are aware of the controversy.

	Total All People 14+	Analysis by Sex and Age
	Feb 8/9 2006	Men	Women	14-17#	18-24	25-34	35-49	50+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, aware	78	82	75	57	72	81	82	80
No, not aware/can’t say	22	18	25	43	28	19	18	20
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

Victorians (82%) and Queenslanders (80%) are most likely too have some prior knowledge of the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, while Tasmanians are the least likely (63%).

	Total All People 14+	Analysis by Region and State
	Feb 8/9 2006	Capital Cities	Country Areas	NSW	Vic	Qld	SA/NT	WA	Tas#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, aware	78	79	77	76	82	80	78	76	63
No, not aware/can’t say	22	21	23	24	18	20	22	24	37
Yes, aware	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

 # Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

Nine out of ten supporters of Independent and Other Candidates (93%) are aware of the cartoon controversy.

	Total All People 14+	Analysis by Federal Voting Intention
	Feb 8/9 2006	L-NP	ALP	Aust. Dems#	The Greens	One Nation#	Family First#	Ind/ Other#	No Answer
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, aware	78	76	82	82	86	89	78	93	65
No, not aware	22	24	18	18	14	11	22	7	35
Yes, aware	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

Should Australian newspapers have published the cartoons or not?

Respondents were then asked:  "Most Australian newspapers have so far declined to republish the cartoons. In your opinion, should Australian newspapers have published the cartoons or not?”

Men (34%) are much more likely than women (24%) to believe the cartoons should be published while those aged 18 -24 are the most likely to believe the cartoons should not have been published (66%).

	Total All People 14+	Analysis by Sex and Age
	Feb 8/9 2006	Men	Women	14-17#	18-24	25-34	35-49	50+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, should have published	29	34	24	29	24	28	31	30
No, should not have published	62	58	67	59	66	62	61	63
Can’t say	9	8	9	12	10	10	8	7
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

Western Australians (41%) are the most likely to believe that the cartoons should have been published while Victorians (22%) are the least likely to believe they should have been published.

	Total All People 14+	Analysis by Region and State
	Feb 8/9 2006	Capital Cities	Country Areas	NSW	Vic	Qld	SA/NT	WA	Tas#
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, should have published	29	28	32	31	22	32	23	41	30
No, should not have published	62	63	61	61	67	61	64	55	70
Can’t say	9	9	7	8	11	7	13	4	-
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

 # Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

A majority of supporters of all parties other than those who support Independent and Other Candidates (46%) believe the cartoons should not be published.

	Total All People 14+	Analysis by Federal Voting Intention
	Feb 8/9 2006	L-NP	ALP	Aust. Dems#	The Greens	One Nation#	Family First#	Ind/ Other#	No Answer
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, should have published	29	30	25	43	31	24	29	48	30
No, should not have published	62	63	66	57	67	54	58	46	59
Can’t say	9	7	9	-	2	22	13	6	11
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

Those who are aware of the controversy are much more likely (67%) than those who are unaware of the controversy (44%) to believe the cartoons should not have been published.

	Total All People 14+	Analysis by Whether Aware Of The Cartoon Controversy
	Feb 8/9 2006	Aware	Not Aware
	%	%	%
Yes, should have published	29	29	31
No, should not have published	62	67	44
Can’t say	9	4	25
Total	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

The Morgan Poll is conducted by the ONLY Australian and New Zealand member of the Gallup International Association.

No other public opinion poll taken in Australia or New Zealand has this qualification.

© 2007 Roy Morgan Research. All Rights Reserved
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