Older Australians are much more likely to feel positive about AUKUS than younger ones, new research by the United States Studies Centre shows.
Crikey got access to exclusive data from the research centre’s 2024 “Allies and partners” poll, released today, breaking down attitudes towards AUKUS by age group.
The data shows Australians aged 65 and older are about twice as likely to “strongly agree” it’s a good idea for the country to have nuclear-powered submarines.
Twenty-nine percent of respondents in that age group said they strongly agreed, and 39% said they agreed with the statement. Among people aged 18-34, just 14% said they strongly agreed, and 24% said they agreed. In the 35-64 age group, those percentages were 17% and 34%.
Just 5% of Australians older than 65 “strongly disagree” that the subs are a good idea, compared with 11% of 18 to 34-year-olds.
US Studies Centre research associate and report co-author Ava Kalinauskas said the results were unsurprising.
“Our research suggests [young people] are more likely to care about issues like climate change rather than defence or security,” she told Crikey.
“Our polling consistently finds that young Australians are far more sceptical of the United States than older Australians, and remain unconvinced by traditional messaging on Australia’s alliance with the US.”
Overall, just over half of Australians — 51% — said AUKUS was a good idea. However, 39% said the submarine project wasn’t worth the cost, and 52% thought it would lock Australia into supporting the US in an armed conflict.
Coalition voters were more likely to agree AUKUS was a good idea, with 66% in favour, compared to 50% of Labor voters.
The Australian government expects to receive its first Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine from the US by the beginning of the next decade. But the first SSN-AUKUS submarine, which would incorporate technology from the UK, US and Australia, isn’t projected to be delivered until the early 2040s, or about 15 years from now.
