New research from The Australia Institute has found that twice as many Australian would prefer that Joe Biden become the President in the upcoming US election than for the incumbent Donald Trump to be returned.

The Australia Institute conducted surveys of the Australian public over September and October which show that Joe Biden is seen as the better candidate when it comes to a broad range of issues affecting Australians.

Key results:

–          Just over half of Australians (52%) prefer for Biden to be President, compared to less than one in four (24%) who prefer Trump.

–          Men are much more likely to prefer Trump (31%) than women (18%), but still more men prefer Biden (50%).

–          Only among One Nation voters do more prefer Trump (49%) than Biden (24%).

–          Biden was chosen ahead of Trump by four to one on the issue of the response to COVID-19 (58% vs 15%).

–          Biden was twice as likely as Trump to be identified as better for world peace and security, African American people, Australia’s peace and security, the world economy, China’s global role and the Australian economy.

–          There were no issues that Trump was considered better than Biden on.

“This is an election with truly global implications,” said Allan Behm, the head of The Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs program.

“Our research shows that Australians overwhelmingly believe that Americans, Australians and the broader international community would be better off under a Biden Presidency.

“America and the international order have been thrown into chaos throughout the Trump Presidency. If Joe Biden is elected President in the coming days, as the majority of Australians hope will happen, there will be a return to a more measured approach to economic, foreign and security policy.

“Perhaps most importantly, a Biden Presidency will deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already killed 230,000 Americans, almost one fifth of fatalities worldwide. Australians believe that re-election for Donald Trump will harm global security and the world economy while also hindering the international effort to tackle COVID-19.”