More voters trust Labor than Coalition to manage Australia-China relationship, poll suggests

Scott Morrison bowled up a scare campaign on national security but latest Guardian Essential poll suggests it is not working

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A majority of voters see China and the bilateral relationship as a complex issue to be managed rather than a threat to be confronted, and more voters trust Labor than the Coalition to manage that complexity, the latest Guardian Essential poll suggests.

After a bare-knuckle political week where the prime minister, Scott Morrison, branded Labor's deputy leader a Manchurian candidate" and declared the ALP unequal to the task of managing the regional threat environment, the latest poll of 1,089 respondents suggests Australians hold a nuanced view of the Australia-China relationship.