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Concern about Asylum Seekers (based on information about arrivals)

8 Aug 2011

Q.  Actually, the number of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat has fallen by more than half in 2011 compared to 2010. Based on that information, now how concerned are you about the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat?

Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
Very concerned 33% 24% 43% 9%
Somewhat concerned 25% 27% 30% 11%
A little concerned 20% 23% 17% 26%
Not at all concerned 19% 25% 8% 50%
Don’t know 3% 2% 1% 3%

When told that the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat had fallen by more than half, 33% said they were very concerned (down 10% from the earlier question), 25% somewhat concerned (up 1%) and 39% a little or not concerned (up 9%).

The shifts were similar across all demographic groups.

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