Voters want to hear more about health, education and the economy this election, an exclusive SBS commissioned Essential Media poll has found. The majority of people polled want to know more about the policies being put forward in relation to national issues, including renewable energy and housing affordability.
The majority of voters also said the election campaign has so far failed to sway their opinion. Of those polled, 36 per cent said they haven’t changed their mind about who they’ll support on July 2nd.
The polling revealed small swings between the major parties, with four per cent of Labor voters saying they’ll now vote Liberal/National, and three per cent of Liberal/National voters saying they’ll now vote Labor.
Overall, 11 per cent of voters said they remain undecided about who they’ll vote for.
Sports agent Tao Chen is voting in the marginal seat of Greenway in Sydney's north west. A swinging voter, Mr Chen told SBS that neither party has convinced him so far this campaign.
"Either Labor or Liberal, I'm undecided," Mr Chen said.
"The lack of technology, that's what I'm worried about for the young generation's future."
Housing affordability a major issue for young voters
University of Queensland commerce and economic student Edward Hogan takes a keen interest in the federal government's policies. The 21-year-old told SBS he wanted to hear more about housing affordability before he would consider voting Liberal again.
"As a student I look at the housing market and I don't have much hope coming out of university, getting a job and then one day owning a home because it is so inflated at the moment," Mr Hogan said.
The student said if Labor were to put forward a "genuinely reforming" housing affordability policy, he'd consider voting for them instead of the LNP.
Of the young people aged between 18 and 34 who were surveyed in the SBS/Essential Media poll, 62 per cent said they want to hear more about housing affordability this election. Other major concerns include health and Medicare (59 per cent) renewable energy (58 per cent) and employment (58 per cent).
Only 39 per cent of young voters wanted to hear more about immigration policies. Compared with voters aged 35 years and over, the issue of same sex marriage was a bigger concern for younger voters, with 44 per cent saying they’d like to know more about the major parties’ policies.
More young people cared about the NBN (42 per cent) than voters aged over 35.
Voters aged 55+ want to hear more about Health and Medicare
Of the issues canvassed, 84 per cent of voters aged 55 years and over said they wanted to hear more about health and Medicare policy in the final weeks of the campaign.
Economic management was another big issue for this age bracket (75 per cent) as well as employment creation (69 per cent) and taxation (62 per cent).
The higher age bracket shared similar interests with younger voters, with 59 per cent of the later agreeing that more needs to be announced in relation to health and Medicare.
More detail about employment creation policy desired by all voters
On the issue of employment creation, voters across the spectrum agreed they needed to hear more about the parties’ policy plans.
Of Labor voters polled, 64 per cent said it was a concern, the same number of Liberal/National voters agreed.
Of the Greens voters polled, 62 per cent said employment creation was something they wanted to hear more about.
Climate change and renewable energy a concern for young families
Of voters polled, 59 per cent said they wanted to hear more from all of the major parties about renewable energy policies.
Elaine Dunwoody will be voting for the first time this election, after becoming a citizen last year. The young mother was born in Hong Kong and moved to Australia from New Zealand in 2004. Ms Dunwoody told SBS she's still undecided on the major parties, but climate change policy is important to her as a voter.
"I want [my child] to have a sustainable environment for them to grow up in, so sustainability and carbon are very important," Ms Dunwoody said.
"I think either Labor or Green, but I'm not sure who I'll vote for in the end."
While Essential Media tried to get a snapshot of the nation, the response rate and coverage for the online poll means an accurate cross section of Australia could not be ensured.
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