Managing the economy is the No. 1 election issue among Australia’s rural voters and the Coalition scores a pass mark for its performance, Fairfax Agricultural Media’s exclusive national poll has found.
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Some 42 per cent of farmers surveyed say economic management is the main issue that will decide how they cast their vote on July 2.
Next most important are agricultural policies (20pc rated it the No. 1 issue), health and Medicare (11pc), environmental management and climate change (7pc), education (5pc) and regional communications issues such as mobile coverage and internet access (4pc).
About 2pc rate foreign investment in Australia as the most important issue.
Asked to score the Coalition’s performance - from one for “poor” to five for “excellent” - rural voters give the government a solid pass mark on export trade agreements (with a mean score of 3.3), immigration policies (3.2) and the economy (3.1) but a fail for the backpacker tax (1.9), regional communications (2.1) and the environment/climate change (2.3).
The Coalition’s “excellent” scores are highest on immigration (with 21pc of those who rated it a key issue giving the government top marks) and export agreements (14pc).
But 38pc of voters nationally say the government’s performance on regional communications is “poor”.
In Victoria/Tasmania 50pc score the Coalition as “poor” on the issue, and 43pc in Queensland rate it lowest.
On the environment and climate change 27pc nationally rate the government’s performance “poor”, which rises to 32pc in NSW and 35pc in Victoria/Tasmania.
Of the industry sectors surveyed, agricultural policies are the No. 1 issue among dairy farmers: 33pc rate it more important in deciding their vote than the economy (25pc).
Dairy farmers scored the Coalition poorest on the issue: 26pc give the government the lowest score – more than any other sector.
In South Australia, where 11pc of voters say they support minor parties like the Nick Xenophon Team and a further 5pc say they will vote independent, the economy is the top issue for 51pc of rural voters.
Among Queensland/NT voters, 2pc of whom say Pauline Hanson is their preferred PM, the Coalition scored best on export trade agreements (3.5) and immigration policies (3.4) and poorest on regional communications and the backpacker tax (both 1.9).
In WA, where Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is preferred as PM over Labor leader Bill Shorten, voters score the Coalition a strong 3.4 out of five on immigration and 3.1 on export trade agreements.
