Some voters want to see those who commit terrorist acts receive harsher punishment, including the introduction of the death penalty, an exclusive SBS-commissioned Essential Media poll has found.
SBS asked voters whether or not they would approve of various actions the federal government could take to combat terrorism in Australia. Of those polled, 54 per cent said they would approve of the introduction of the death penalty for acts of terrorism.
There was wide-ranging support for the government to work with community leaders to combat radicalisation of young people, with 84 per cent of voters agreeing that that would be a favourable outcome. Only 15 per cent of voters thought giving Australian citizens more freedom to own guns to "protect themselves" was a good idea.
In the wake of the shooting in Orlando, 83 per cent of those polled said they would approve of the government taking measures to make it harder to purchase guns in Australia. The proposition of giving police more powers to detain people behaving suspiciously was fairly popular, with 69 per cent saying they would support it.
SBS has been asking voters for their opinions on various aspects of the major parties policies as the eight-week campaign draws to a close.
Elaine Dunwoody is an IT worker and mother of one who will be voting in the seat of Port Melbourne. Ms Dunwoody said anti-terrorism measures shouldn’t come at a cost to civil liberties.
"I think it's important that the government puts something in place for anti-terrorism but at the same time you have to respect people's privacy," she said.
Jessica Downing-Ide is a young commerce student at the University of Queensland who said measures to curb terrorism shouldn't include the introduction of the death penalty.
"That's just an awful idea, it goes against everything that our criminal justice system and our society stands for," she said.
While Essential Media tried to get a snapshot of the nation, the response rate and coverage for the online poll meant an accurate cross section of Australia could not be ensured.
