WELLINGTON (CU)_Over the past year and a half, Australia and New Zealand were lauded by the global community for the success in tackling the pandemic and curbing the spread of the Coronavirus, particularly during the first year of the global health crisis. The governments of the Trans-Tasman nations were able to offer much more cohesive-seeming response to their citizens, in comparison to many other countries, while their populations are also rewarded these efforts with high levels of trust and compliance.
This trust in the health experts of New Zealand and Australia was reaffirmed by a recent study showed that scientists from these countries developed the highest levels of trust as the pandemic raged, while those trust levels soared as the global crisis evolved. A survey was conducted by global analytics and advice firm Gallup, with the participation of 119,000 people from 113 countries. The proportion of citizens from these two countries who said they trusted scientists “a lot” amounted to 62 per cent, a significant increase from the global average of 41 per cent.
It also showed that while trust in scientists has risen across the globe since 2018, there was a 15 per cent increase in Australia and New Zealand, compared with nine points elsewhere. Western Europe reportedly had the highest levels of trust in scientists, before they were overtaken in the past two years.
New Zealand in particular has been applauded for its success in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased the citizens’ reliance on the experts and authorities. Following a study of New Zealanders’ attitudes pre- and post-lockdown, a paper published in the American Psychologist journal revealed that people’s trust in the government, science and each other was higher post-lockdown. “Under the conditions of a strong and cohesive national response […] people are likely to lean on and trust their politicians, scientists, police, and communities,” the researchers wrote.
