Poll Finds 59% Of Australians Prefer Independent Foreign Policy Over Closer US Alliance

A new poll released by The Australia Institute found that 59 percent of Australians believe the country’s interests are better served by a more independent foreign policy rather than a closer alliance with the US, while 23 percent preferred a closer US alliance.

“From left, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles, and British Defence Secretary John Healey (right), leave after giving remarks on the sidelines of the AUKUS Defense Ministers' Ministerial meeting at the Pentagon in Washington on December 10, 2025”

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The YouGov poll of 1,502 people also found that only 13 percent of Australians believe the US is a "very reliable" security ally, and Dr Emma Shortis, Director of The Australia Institute's International & Security Affairs Program, said, "This poll represents a seismic shift in the way Australians think about the US."

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The poll’s findings were framed by Chinese expert Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, who told Global Times that Australians’ lack of trust in the US is tied to a reassessment of the costs and benefits of the alliance.

Chen said the shift reflects concern that the US may be turning from a security guarantee into a source of risk, and the poll also found that one third of Australians believe the AUKUS security agreement is not in Australia’s best interests.

In an interview reflecting on the first year of his second term, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the "America first" mandate has included imposing punishing tariffs on allies and not giving them a heads-up before launching military strikes on Iran, and that it has led Australia to band together more closely with other middle powers.

Albanese said that while the US remained Australia’s "most important ally", it did not mean "that we're not out there engaging with others," per ABC, as the poll’s shift fed into broader questions about alliance priorities.

Global Times

The Global Times account also pointed to ABC News reporting on April 23 that the US Navy’s submarine-building program, which Australia is relying on for its naval fleet, risks another slowdown due to delays awarding a critical construction contract.

It added that new research says construction timelines for the nuclear-powered submarines keep blowing out and they are now being built four years behind schedule, while Financial Review said the unpredictability of the US administration has fueled unease among defense experts about whether Australia can rely on the US to deliver its side of the AUKUS bargain.

Separate from the polling, ultimahora reported that Beijing rejected an Australian request for an investigation and rejected questioning China’s transparency in preventing and controlling the outbreak.

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Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia is calling for an independent inquiry into how China managed the outbreak, telling ABC that there is a need for an independent investigation that identifies everything we need to know about the genesis of the virus.

Payne warned that in some way the consequences of the pandemic will change the relationship between Australia and China and that she is very concerned about Beijing's transparency, while Australia has reported 6,600 cases and 70 deaths and was one of the first countries to ban travel from China.

The report also quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying, "We issued an alert from day one," and that there are no secrets at the WHO, while Chancellor Angela Merkel urged China to be as transparent as possible about the genesis of the coronavirus.