September 27, 2011
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australians are increasingly distrustful and wary about the future, according to a study released Tuesday which shows most are not confident the government is always acting in their best interests.
While Australians were generally happy and satisfied, negative feelings were creeping higher, according to a social cohesion study conducted for the philanthropic Scanlon Foundation by Monash University.
"There has been a sharp fall of trust in government (down from 48 percent in 2009 to 30 percent in 2011) and trust in fellow Australians (down from 55 percent to 46 percent)," it found.
Asked about their level of satisfaction with life, 89 percent of the more than 2,000 surveyed said they were "happy" or "very happy" and 70 percent were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their financial situation.
But more people were pessimistic about the short-term future.
Asked whether life would likely be better, about the same, or worse in three or four years, the number answering "a little worse" or "much worse" increased from 12 percent in 2009 to 17 percent in 2011.
Monash's Professor Andrew Markus, who analysed the results, said bickering politicians were to blame for the survey results.
"What goes on in Canberra doesn't stay in Canberra," he told The Sydney Morning Herald. "That style of politics is having ramifications in the outside community.
"People are being told the government is so stupid they can't even solve the simplest problems."
The survey, which particularly looks at immigration, suggested the issue of asylum-seekers had exacerbated divisions in society and increased disillusionment with government.
It found that people from both sides of politics were "close to unanimous in the view that the government is incapable of dealing with this issue".
While a majority of Australians (55 percent) believe the immigration intake was "about right" or "too few", there was a distinction drawn between refugees arriving after being assessed overseas and asylum-seekers coming on boats.
"We remain implacably hostile to asylum-seekers who make their way here by boat. It's all about the boats," Markus said.
