Australia should not be in Iraq: poll

MORE than half of voters believe Australia should not have a presence in Iraq, a poll taken a week after the Jakarta embassy bombing has found.

The Morgan Poll, conducted on September 15 and 16 and involving 1055 voters nationwide, found 51 per cent of Australians, up three percentage points since early August, believed Australia should not be in Iraq.

Forty-six per cent, down three points, said Australia should be in Iraq, while three per cent could not say either way.

But the majority of Australians, down five points to 53 per cent, still believed that, having made the commitment, Australia should keep its troops in Iraq until the job was done.

The number of Australians who believed the troops should be brought home by Christmas increased five percentage points to 42 per cent, with five per cent unable to say, the poll found.

The poll was taken three weeks into the federal election campaign, as Opposition Leader Mark Latham continued to promote his policy of bringing back all Australian troops by Christmas.

In mid-May, immediately after the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, 50 per cent of respondents were against an Australian presence in Iraq, compared to 47 per cent in favour of Australian involvement.

That was a change from mid-April when the balance favoured Australia having a presence in Iraq, with 50 per cent for compared with 47 per cent against.

The number of Coalition supporters continuing to favour Australia’s presence in Iraq was up eight percentage points to 78 per cent. Those who favoured staying until the job was done rose one point to 80 per cent.

The number of Labor supporters who were against Australian involvement in Iraq increased three percentage points to 74 per cent, while those wanting the troops home by Christmas slid one point to 59 per cent.

Overall, Mr Latham’s approval rating for his job as Opposition Leader rose six percentage points to 64 per cent.

Voter approval for the way Mr Howard was doing his job as prime minister inched up one percentage point to 51 per cent. (AAP)

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