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Awareness of Arrival of Asylum Seekers

8 Aug 2011

Q. As far as you know, has the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat, increased or decreased over the last 12 months?

Total Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
Total increased 62% 51% 74% 36%
Total decreased 7% 10% 5% 11%
Increased a lot 36% 24% 50% 7%
Increased a little 26% 27% 24% 29%
Stayed about the same 20% 28% 14% 33%
Decreased a little 6% 8% 5% 9%
Decreased a lot 1% 2% * 2%
Don’t know 11% 11% 6% 20%

62% believe that the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat has increased over the last 12 months, 20% think it has stayed the same and 7% think it has decreased. 74% of Liberal/National voters think it has increased compared to 51% of Labor voters and 36% of Greens voters.

Of those who think it has increased, 59% said they were very concerned (in answer to the previous question) – and of those who think it has stayed the same or decreased, only 18% were very concerned.

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