A majority of Coalition voters believe Australia should follow Donald Trump’s lead and make it harder for citizens from Muslim countries to travel to Australia.
A special Newspoll, taken exclusively for The Australian, reveals 52 per cent of Liberal and Nationals voters are in favour of copying the dramatic executive order issued by the US President to suspend visas being issued for migrants or travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, halt all refugee arrivals into the US for 120 days and ban Syrian refugees indefinitely.
Overall, Australians are divided over the issue, with the poll of 1734 voters taken from last Thursday to Sunday showing 44 per cent believe Australia should take similar measures while 45 per cent oppose that action. Some 11 per cent were uncommitted.
Among Coalition voters, Newspoll found 52 per cent were in favour of adopting Mr Trump’s measures here, with 39 per cent opposed and 9 per cent uncommitted. More than half of Labor voters were opposed, with 55 per cent against the idea, although 34 per cent were in favour and 11 per cent uncommitted. Greens voters objected the most, with 75 per cent opposed, although just over one in five Greens supporters wanted Australia to take up Mr Trump’s hardline policy, which caused havoc at airports when it was introduced and sparked protests and legal challenges.
The President lashed out at a District Court judge who put the executive order on hold, saying it was a ridiculous ruling. “Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!” he wrote on Twitter. “I have instructed Homeland Security to check people coming into our country VERY CAREFULLY. The courts are making the job very difficult!”
Britain and Germany have condemned the executive order but Malcolm Turnbull refused to take a position, saying it was “not my job” to cast a verdict. Instead the Prime Minister focused on trying to lock in Mr Trump’s support for an agreement struck with his predecessor Barack Obama to send refugees to the US, which the President called the “worst deal ever” in a stunning leak of their fiery conversation.
Australia, like other nations including New Zealand and Canada, sought an exemption from the executive order by asking for “preferential treatment” for Australians with dual nationality who could be blocked by the policy.
While the Trump administration has vowed to take action to restore its restrictions, people who were stranded by the order have used the court rulings to rush into the US, including students, researchers and families.