We asked Australians if they believe in God or the supernatural. Here’s what they said

Only 48 per cent of Australians say they believe in ghosts or the possibility they may exist, but 69 per cent say the same for the soul, according to new research.

The survey of 1000 people, carried out by McCrindle Research for the Centre for Public Christianity, asked respondents about their openness to the existence of a range of spiritual realities: ghosts, miracles, angels, a higher power/God, the soul, ultimate meaning or purpose in life, and life after death.

The results suggest that, as a nation, we may not be as sceptical as we think we are.

In an interview in 2005, the poet Les Murray was asked how comfortable he felt with being “an eccentric Australian voice, a rural poet speaking for an urban culture, a Roman Catholic…