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Conducted for the 2006 Future Summit and published exclusively in The Australian, April 28 2006

Only 12% of Australians now think that collectively, Terrorism, Wars, Security and Safety are the most important problem facing Australia, down from 21% in October 2005, while 32% think they are the most important problem facing the world, down from 52% six months earlier a special telephone Roy Morgan Survey finds.

Now Australians most often mention Government and Human issues (25% up 11%) such as Government and the Political System (7% down 2%), Immigration (5% up 4%) and Intolerance (3% up 3%) as the most important problem facing Australia. Government and Human issues are followed by Economic issues (20% up 6%), Terrorism, Wars, Security and Safety (12% down 9%) and Social issues (11% up 8%) as the most commonly cited problems for Australia.

Fewer than one-in-three Australians (32%) regard Terrorism, Wars, Security and Safety as the most important problem facing the world, down significantly on six months earlier when a majority of Australians (52%) held this view. Now an increased number of Australians regard Economic Issues (19% up 3%), Environmental Issues (14% up 2%), Government and Human Issues (13% up 9%) and Social Issues (11% up 8%) as the most important problems facing the world.

More Australians are concerned about Health Issues locally (9% up 3%) and internationally (4% up 2%) than they were six months ago. Significantly fewer Australians are now concerned about an Energy Crisis, Depletion of Fossil Fuels and Rising Fuel and Petrol than six months ago, with only 1% (down 7%) of Australians nominating fuel-related issues as the most important problem facing Australia. Australians’ regard for fuel-related issues as the most important global problem has also fallen (1% down 1%).

Gary Morgan says:
“While the proportion of Australians who think Terrorism, War, Security and Safety issues are the most important issues facing the world has dropped from 52% to 32% in six months, they are still the most common international problems cited by Australians.

 

“In Australia, Government and Human issues (25% up 11%) such as Immigration policies (5% up 4%) and Intolerance (3% up 3%), and Economic Issues (20% up 6%) such as the Industrial Relations Reforms (6% up 6%) and Unemployment (5% up 3%) have risen in the national consciousness.

"Australians’ domestic concerns have changed significantly since October last year, when the London Terrorist attacks and the Bali Bombings were still fresh in the minds of Australians, now only 12% (down 9%) think they are the most important problems facing Australia.”

This special telephone Roy Morgan Survey conducted for the 2006 Future Summit was conducted on April 5/6 with an Australia-wide cross-section of 669 men and women aged 14 and over. More details are available on a subscription basis. The Future Summit will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 11/12, 2006.

Most Important Problem Facing the World and Australia
Respondents were asked “What do you think is the most important problem facing the world today?” and “What do you think is the most important problem facing Australia today?”

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Total Terrorism/Wars/Security, Safety	52	32	21	12
Total Economic Issues	16	19	14	20
Total Environmental Issues	12	14	15	8
Total Government, Human Issues	4	13	14	25
Total Social Issues	3	11	3	11
Total Health Issues	2	4	6	9
Total Energy Crisis/Depletion of Fossil Fuels/Petrol prices	2	1	8	1
Other	8	3	14	8
Can’t Say	1	3	5	6
Total	100	100	100	100

* less than 1%

Australians are much less likely to consider Terrorism the most important problem facing the world (20% down a large 26%) or Australia (6% down 13%) than six months ago. More Australians are now concerned about War and Conflicts as a global problem (11% up 5%) and Relations with Other Countries as an Australian problem (3% up 3%).

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Terrorism	46	20	19	6
Wars and Conflicts	6	11	2	2
Security/Safety	-	1	-	1
Relations with Other Countries	-	-	-	3
Total Terrorism/Wars/Security, Safety	52	32	21	12

* less than 1%

Regarding Economic issues, the gap between rich and poor (16% up 6%) has become a greater international concern for many Australians in the last six months while more Australians now regard the Industrial Relations reforms (6% up 6%) and Unemployment (5% up 3%) as the most important issues facing Australia.

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Economic Problems	3	1	6	2
Industrial Relations Reforms	-	-	-	6
Poverty; the Gap Between the Rich & Poor	10	16	4	4
Unemployment	*	*	2	5
Over-Population	1	1	*	*
Globalisation / Fairer World Trade	1	1	1	2
Infrastructure	-	-	-	1
Total Economic Issues	16	19	14	20

* less than 1%

Australians are much less likely to nominate Water Conservation as the most important issue facing Australia (3%, down 5%) than they were six months ago however Australians’ concerns over Famine (2% up 2%) and Global Warming (5% up 1%) as the most important global problems have risen.

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Water Conservation	1	1	8	3
Global Warming	4	5	2	1
Famine	-	2	-	-
Other Environmental Issues	7	6	4	4
Total Environmental Issues	12	14	15	8

* less than 1%

More Australians now regard Immigration issues (5% up 4%), Intolerance (3% up 3%), Racial tensions (2% up 2%) and Multiculturalism (2% up 2%) as the most important problems facing Australia than six months ago. An increased number of Australians have similar international concerns - 5% (up 3%) of Australians nominate Religious issues, 3% (up 2%) nominate Intolerance and 2% (up 2%) nominate Racism and Racial Tensions as the most important problems facing the world.

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Government, Politics, Political System	1	2	9	7
Religion, Religious fundamentalism	2	5	1	2
Human Rights	*	*	1	1
Refugees, Refugee and Asylum Problems	-	-	1	2
Immigration, Immigration Policy	-	1	1	5
Intolerance	1	3	*	3
Racism/Racial Tensions	-	2	-	2
Multiculturalism	-	*	-	2
John Howard/Howard Government	-	-	-	1
Total Government, Human Issues	4	13	14	25

* less than 1%

Now Australians are more likely to nominate Social Issues as the most important problem facing Australia and the world (both 11% both up a large 8%) than six months ago, however change in no one particular Social Issue accounts for this significant rise in concern.

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Corruption	*	*	*	*
Greed, Materialism	1	3	*	*
Drugs and Drug Abuse	*	2	1	2
Educational Issues	*	1	2	2
Crime	-	1	-	2
Youth Issues	-	1	-	2
Anger/Violence/Aggression	-	1	-	*
Social Apathy/Family Breakdowns/Selfishness/Moral Decline	-	2	-	3
Total Social Issues	3	11	3	11

* less than 1%

For Australians, Health issues have risen both as an international problem (4% up 2%) and as an Australian problem (9% up 3%). Other Health issues (up 2% internationally and up 4% locally) account for this increase while Bird ‘flu is up marginally internationally to 1% and down 1% locally.

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Bird 'flu	*	1	1	-
Other Health Issues	1	3	5	9
Total Health Issues	2	4	6	9

* less than 1%

Australians are far less likely to nominate Fuel-related issues as the most important problem facing Australia (1% down 7%) than 6 months ago with a decrease in concern regarding Petrol Prices (1% down 5%) largely accounting for this change. Also less Australians nominated Fuel-related issues as the most important problem facing the world (2% down 1%).

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006	October 5/6 2005	April 5/6 2006
	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
Petrol Prices	1	*	6	1
Energy Crisis	1	1	1	*
Depletion of Fossil Fuels	*	*	1	*
Total Energy Crisis/Depletion of Fossil Fuels/Petrol prices	2	1	8	1

* less than 1%

This special telephone Roy Morgan Survey conducted for the 2006 Future Summit was conducted on April 5/6 with an Australia-wide cross-section of 669 men and women aged 14 and over. More details are available on a subscription basis. The Future Summit will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 11/12, 2006.

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
Simon Webb	Office (03) 9224 5231	Mobile 0400 114 631

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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