Despite some declaring the ‘climate wars’ over, action on climate change – or lack thereof – continues to rank as a top election issue for voters, with the next federal election just months away.
The results of a new ‘mega’ poll of Australian voters, published on Wednesday, shows the vast majority of voters, across all states and territories, support governments taking stronger action on climate change.
According to new polling, released just a day after a federal court judgement reduced the legal obligations imposed on the federal government to act, also shows that climate change will sway the votes of young Australians, more than any other issue.
The polling was commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation, as part of the Together We Can initiative, a collective of around 30 organisations and businesses focused on acting on climate change.
“Concern about climate change will be influential on how people vote on election day. Climate change is in the top three issues for 1-in-3 people (30%) at the next federal election, alongside a combination of the following: cost of living, health and hospitals, managing the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy,” the polling report says.
“The federal government’s net zero by 2050 policy has failed to convince Australians that it will do enough to stop climate damage. 6-out-of-10 Australians are not convinced the PM’s commitment to net zero by 2050 is enough action.”
Support for stronger climate action was found to be broadly consistent across voters in metropolitan, regional and rural parts of Australia.
The poll found that around one-fifth of Australians supported stronger action on climate change even if it led to increased costs in the short term, with an additional half of respondents saying they see the benefits of acting on climate change outweigh the costs.
“The results of this poll overturn the myth that people across Australia are not willing to pay for climate solutions,” ACF CEO Kelly O’Shanassy said.
“People want climate action, and many Australians want stronger climate targets for 2030.”
“People across Australia want climate action because they know it’s good for their health and will create future opportunities for young people,” O’Shanassy added.
The polling collected the views of around 15,000 Australians – making it one of the largest ever sample sizes used in a poll of opinions on climate change – and found that younger generations, including both Generation Z and Millennials, were more likely to rank climate change among their top election concerns.
The national director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), Alex Fuller, said the polling showed that the response to climate change from political parties and other candidates could prove to be a deciding factor in a forthcoming federal election.
“For too long young people’s voices calling for real action on the climate crisis have been ignored – because the Morrison Government is all ears for big coal, oil and gas corporations. It’s time for all parties to step up with a commitment to leave fossil fuels in the ground and supercharge the transition to 100% renewable energy,” Fuller said.
“Our generation has a bold vision for a brighter and fairer world; where instead of lining the pockets of fossil fuel billionaires, our government invests in things that benefit all of us, like creating thousands of new long-term jobs powered by the wind and sun and powering our homes with 100% renewable energy.”
“Just a few thousand votes could determine who’s in the driver’s seat on climate action for the next three years, and this national climate poll tells us there are 1.63 million young people aged 18 to 24 ready to vote for a party that delivers real action on the climate crisis,” Fuller added.
One-in-five voters who fall within Generation Z ranked climate change as their most important concern, while around one-in-six Millennials did the same.
The level of support was lowest amongst Gen X voters, with 11 per cent ranking climate action as their top concern, along with 13 per cent of ‘Baby Boomers’.
The poll’s release comes a day after the federal court overturned an earlier ruling that the federal environment minister had a duty of care to protect young people from the impacts of climate change when exercising powers under environmental laws.
The court backed an appeal launched by the environment minister, Sussan Ley, citing the difficulties in linking a particular fossil fuel project to the global impacts of climate change.
