‘Australians more alarmed about state of politics than impact of migration and minorities, survey finds‘, The Conversation, 22 November 2016
Links to detailed report of the latest survey.
In 2016 just 34% of respondents considered that the immigration intake was “too high”, the lowest recorded in the Scanlon Foundation surveys …
There is consistent high-level agreement with the proposition that “multiculturalism has been good for Australia”, in the range of 83% to 86% across the 2013-16 Scanlon Foundation surveys …
A relatively high proportion indicate that they are “very negative” or “negative” towards Muslims: 25% of respondents in 2016, compared to 5% with negative views towards Christians or Buddhists.
However, this level is not close to 50% – as indicated by a recent survey. And the trend of opinion shows little change: over the course of six Scanlon Foundation surveys, the proportion negative to Muslims has been consistently in the range of 22% to 25%.
But on the political system there was a different attitude:
Questions on the working of Australian democracy continue to find low levels of trust in parliament and political parties. An increased proportion agree that “the system of government we have in Australia … needs major change”, up from 23% in 2014 to 31% in 2016. A further 11% would like to see the system replaced.
The lack of trust in the political system may in part reflect the failure to tackle socially progressive issues supported by a majority of electors. [euthanasia, marriage equality
Reports of earlier Scanlon Foundation surveys link from here. Another media report of the latest survey.