Australian survey finds gloom, stress and growing political division

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 4 Nov, 19:21 · Archive

A major Australian survey finds pessimism and distrust have roughly doubled since the pandemic, with immigration and overseas political trends fuelling division.

A major survey published on Thursday has found significant rises in Australian pessimism and distrust. The Mapping Social Cohesion Survey, conducted by the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute among 10,000 participants, found that 32 per cent of Australians now think their lives will get worse, more than double the 14 per cent recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of Australian adults are now pessimistic or very pessimistic about the country's future, up from 24 per cent during lockdowns and recession.

The survey identified cost-of-living pressures and events such as the Bondi massacre as having soured Australians' attitudes towards each other and increased distrust. Two-thirds of respondents said too many immigrants are not adopting Australian values. More than a fifth of all voters said they would never trust the government, a near-quadrupling compared to six years ago.

James O'Donnell, a researcher at the Australian National University, told AAP that overseas political trends were influencing Australian discourse. "It's clear that some of the trends are coming in from overseas—distrust in elections in Australia, distrust in the court system in Australia," he said. "There's obviously a big global discourse around this particular conservative side of politics that would seem to be infiltrating into Australian political and social life."

Political divisions emerged sharply in the data. Among One Nation voters, those believing immigrants were not adopting Australian values rose from 89 to 96 per cent over two years. More than two-thirds of One Nation voters believed elections were unfair.

How it is being reported

• Gloom, stress, division dominate major national surveyFinancial pain, contempt for Canberra, a white-hot immigration debate and the Bondi massacre have made Australians more miserable and fragmented.The West Australian · 4 Nov, 19:03
• Gloom, stress, division dominate major national surveyFinancial pain, contempt for Canberra, a white-hot immigration debate and the Bondi massacre have made Australians more miserable and fragmented.Perth Now · 4 Nov, 19:03

In this story: Scanlon Foundation Research Institute · Australian National University · James O'Donnell · Anthea Hancocks · Australia

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