Media protest hype masks Australia's silent majority

By Ian Silvera

Anti-lockdown protests may have dominated the news Down Under over the weekend, but the virus-related media hype and excitement was not reflective of the current Australian psyche. 

The country’s silent majority actually support mask wearing (92% of Victorians back the measure) and 70% of Australians say they would definitely or probably choose to be vaccinated if the Covid-19 jab proves to be safe and effective. 

These findings come as part of Newgate Australia’s latest weekly tracker of more than 1,200 people between Monday 31 August and Wednesday 2 September. The survey also found economic concerns remain the highest, with 82% of respondents saying that they are “extremely” or “quite” concerned about the economy.

In the UK, meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s administration is facing a drop in public confidence. A poll from the Health Foundation found that 56% of the more than 2,000 respondents thought that the Government has not done a good job of handling the crisis, up substantially from 39% in May. 

Half of voters (50%) said Number 10 had not gone far enough when dealing with the pandemic. The good news, however, is that almost three quarter (74%) of the respondents thought that the public guidance on face covering on public transport was clear. 

At least Johnson hasn’t got an election on his hand like across the Atlantic, where Donald Trump is currently facing defeat come November with Democrat hopeful Joe Biden 7.5% ahead of the President, according to an average of the latest opinion polls. The Commander-in-Chief has a disapproval rating of 52.6%, against an approval score of 43.3%. Perhaps a former Prime Minister called Tony can help?