CANBERRA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Australians are divided on whether or not they would support a travel ban on citizens from Muslim nations, similar to that introduced in the United States by President Donald Trump, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
Newspoll showed that 44 percent of Australians would support a similar travel ban, while 45 percent are against the measures which have caused controversy across the world. Just more than one in 10 of those surveyed were undecided on the issue.
Conservative voters were the most likely to support a Trump-style halt on immigration in Australia; 52 percent of coalition (Liberal and National) voters said they would support an Australian version of the U.S. President's executive order halting all movements to the U.S. by citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
In addition, 34 percent of Labor voters were also in favor of the ban, while 55 percent were against the idea. Interestingly, one in five left-wing Greens voters said they would support a similar ban.
Meanwhile in a separate poll taken by Essential, the same question was posed to voters with similar support levels; 41 percent of respondents supported a ban while 46 percent opposed, with 14 percent undecided.
However when those polled were specifically asked whether or not they support Trump's executive order, the support level dropped 5 points to 36 percent while disapproval rate rose to 49 percent.
The poll follows news that Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to join a chorus of condemnation regarding Trump's executive order when it was first enforced.
Leaders from other leading Western nations including Germany, Britain and Canada all denounced the ban, while Turnbull said it was not "his job" to interfere in the U.S. "domestic policies."
