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Fifty-nine per cent of Australians (up 8% since March 2005 and 13% since March 2004) think Australia should not have a military presence in Iraq a special telephone Morgan Poll finds. Only 35% (down 10%) of Australians aged 14 and over think Australia should have a military presence and 6% (up 2%) couldn’t say. Support for an Australian military presence has never been lower since the Morgan Poll first asked Australians in March 2004.

Almost two-thirds of Australians (63%) think the Australian Government should bring Australian forces back from Iraq, up 10% since March 2005. Only 32% (down 12%) think we should continue to fight and 5% (up 2%) couldn’t say. Supporters of the Coalition Government are 21% more likely than Labor supporters to think Australia should have a military presence in Iraq (48% cf 27%) and 19% more likely to think that Australian troops should continue to fight in the war torn nation (45% cf 26%).

The results of this latest Morgan Poll contrast strongly with the results of two Morgan Polls concerning the Vietnam War conducted in 1965. In September 1965, the majority of Australians (56%) said they believed Australia should continue to fight in Vietnam, while 28% thought the Government should withdraw Australian troops (16% couldn’t say).

Gary Morgan says:

“A clear majority of Australians (59%) do not think Australia should have a military presence in Iraq — 35% think Australia should have a military presence in Iraq and 6% couldn’t say. Only 32% say Australia should continue fighting in Iraq while 63% say we should bring our forces back home and 5% couldn’t say.

“Support for an Australian military presence in Iraq is now at an all-time low.

“The ‘sleeper’ for the Howard Government is the possibility that Australians troops may be killed while on duty in Iraq.”

This special Morgan Poll was conducted by telephone on the nights of April 19/20, 2006, with an Australia-wide cross-section of 658 respondents.

1. Australia’s Military Presence in Iraq

Respondents were asked: “Now thinking about Iraq — in your opinion should Australia have a military presence in Iraq?”

	Total All People Aged 14+								Analysis by Federal Voting Intention
	Mar 31/Apr 1	May 12	May 19/20	Aug 4-8	Sep 15/16	Sep 29/30	Mar 9/10	Apr 19/20			Aust.	The	Ind/	No
	2004	2004	2004	2004	2004	2004	2005	2006	L-NP	ALP	Dems#	Greens	Other#	Answer
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, have a presence in Iraq	50	47	47	49	46	45	45	35	48	27	17	11	33	40
No, not have a presence in Iraq	46	49	50	48	51	52	51	59	44	69	83	87	64	54
Can't say	4	4	3	3	3	3	4	6	8	4	-	2	3	6
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

	Total All People Aged 14+								Analysis by Sex and Age
	Mar 31/Apr 1	May 12	May 19/20	Aug 4-8	Sep 15/16	Sep 29/30	Mar 9/10	Apr 19/20
	2004	2004	2004	2004	2004	2004	2005	2006	Men	Women	14-17#	18-24	25-34	35-49	50+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes, have a presence in Iraq	50	47	47	49	46	45	45	35	43	27	47	27	38	37	33
No, not have a presence in Iraq	46	49	50	48	51	52	51	59	53	65	52	67	55	58	61
Can't say	4	4	3	3	3	3	4	6	4	8	1	6	7	5	6
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

2. Australia’s Continued Presence in Iraq

Respondents were then asked: “Do you think we should continue to fight in Iraq or bring our forces back to Australia?”

	Total All People Aged 14+			Analysis by Federal Voting Intention
	Vietnam*	Iraq	Iraq
	Sep	Mar 9/10	Apr 19/20			Aust.	The	Ind/	No
	1965	2005	2006	L-NP	ALP	Dems#	Greens	Other#	Answer
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Continue	56	44	32	45	26	15	16	43	30
Bring them back	28	53	63	49	71	78	81	54	64
Can't say	16	3	5	6	3	7	3	3	6
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

* Asked of all Australians 21 and over       

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

	Total All People Aged 14+			Analysis by Sex and Age
	Vietnam*	Iraq	Iraq
	Sep	Mar 9/10	Apr 19/20
	1965	2005	2006	Men	Women	14-17#	18-24	25-34	35-49	50+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Continue	56	44	32	40	25	25	20	29	35	38
Bring them back	28	53	63	56	70	68	78	64	61	58
Can't say	16	3	5	4	5	7	2	7	4	4
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

* Asked of all Australians 21 and over       

# 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 has this qualification.

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