{"id":548998,"date":"2026-03-18T19:39:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/548998\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T19:39:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:39:20","slug":"australians-want-no-part-in-iran-conflict-hastie-unloads-on-petulant-trump-resolve-political-monitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/548998\/","title":{"rendered":"Australians want no part in Iran conflict, Hastie unloads on \u2018petulant\u2019 Trump: Resolve Political Monitor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

March 18, 2026 \u2014 3:44pm<\/p>\n

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Most Australians want the country to stay entirely out of the United States and Israel\u2019s war against Iran, with an overwhelming majority worried by the conflict\u2019s impact on cost of living in Australia.<\/p>\n

Fewer than one in three voters back the Albanese government\u2019s quick support for the strikes<\/a>, but there was stronger backing for the decision to send a surveillance aircraft and missiles to help defend the United Arab Emirates from Iranian attacks.<\/p>\n

\" Photo: Nathan Perri<\/p>\n

While many Australians would like to see the hardline Islamic regime in Tehran overthrown, the latest Resolve Political Monitor survey found that 39 per cent of respondents opposed the US-Israeli military actions in Iran, with just 28 per cent in support.<\/p>\n

The results came as Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie branded US President Donald Trump \u201cpetulant\u201d for an outburst in which he declared the US did not need allies\u2019 help and Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Israel against launching a major ground invasion in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also revealed on Wednesday that an Iranian projectile had struck near Australia\u2019s Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and caused a fire, damaging an accommodation block and a medical facility. No Australian personnel were injured, Albanese said.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"US<\/a><\/p>\n

The Resolve survey, conducted last week, found that 61 per cent of Australians say they want to stay out of the conflict entirely, with just 13 per cent eager for Australia to be involved.<\/p>\n

This is despite 47 per cent of Australians supporting regime change in Tehran, with just 9 per cent wanting the current government to remain in place.<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine per cent of Australians endorsed the government\u2019s support for the US-Israeli strikes, with 35 per cent opposed and 36 per cent undecided or neutral.<\/p>\n

After the US launched its strikes on Iran<\/a>, which killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Albanese said: \u201cWe support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forty-eight per cent of respondents said they were opposed to Australia offering any military support to the US in Iran, with just 24 per cent supporting the idea and 28 per cent neutral or undecided.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thirty-nine per cent of respondents backed the decision to send personnel, defence missiles and an E-7 Wedgetail surveillance aircraft to the UAE<\/a>, while 25 per cent were opposed.<\/p>\n

Australians had little doubt, however, about the conflict\u2019s impact on oil and commodity prices, with 85 per cent saying they were concerned by the war\u2019s cost-of-living consequences.<\/p>\n

The average price of petrol has surged over $2 a litre since the war began and the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz came to a virtual standstill.<\/p>\n

Pollster Jim Reed said: \u201cWe know from our polling that Australians are no fan of the regime in Iran, but neither do they support the ill-explained actions of the US and Israel to attack it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe major touchpoint for most Australians is the price they\u2019re paying for fuel, and how that\u2019s going to knock on to grocery prices. This is the symptom they\u2019re looking to government and businesses to cure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump claimed on Wednesday<\/a> that he didn\u2019t want other countries\u2019 help in Iran, despite only days earlier urging an array of countries to send warships to protect the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer \u2018need\u2019, or desire, the NATO Countries\u2019 assistance \u2013 WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,\u201d Trump wrote on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hastie, the Coalition industry minister, told ABC radio: \u201cI thought it was a petulant post from a president under immense pressure \u2026 I just don\u2019t think that\u2019s how you treat allies. I think it\u2019s a reflection on his character more than us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hastie, who has been regarded as a pro-American national security hawk, said Trump was learning to appreciate a famous dictum by Mike Tyson: \u201cEveryone has a plan until they get punched in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OppositionOpposition industry minster Andrew Hastie, regarded as a pro-US national security hawk, accused Donald Trump of petulance. Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

Australia voiced concern on Wednesday about Israel\u2019s intensification of its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has already claimed over 900 lives in Lebanon this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are gravely concerned by the expansion of the conflict into Lebanon, the loss of life and the displacement of more than one million civilians,\u201d a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.<\/p>\n

While condemning Hezbollah for launching rocket attacks into Israel, Wong said: \u201cA major Israeli ground offensive into Lebanon will only exacerbate the worsening humanitarian situation in the country.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe support engagement between Israeli and Lebanese authorities towards a durable political outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the UK called for an \u201cimmediate de-escalation\u201d in Lebanon, saying that a \u201csignificant Israeli ground offensive would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\"MatthewMatthew Knott<\/a> is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 18, 2026 \u2014 3:44pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-548998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}