Government responsibilities

Q. Which of the following should be mainly the responsibility of the Federal Government and which should be mainly the responsibility of the State Governments – or should they have equal responsibility?

	Mainly Federal	Mainly State	Both equally	Don’t know
Constructing new roads and highways	17%	29%	44%	10%
Investing in public transport	10%	45%	36%	8%
Improving the health system	36%	11%	47%	7%
Improving the education system	30%	14%	48%	7%
Managing mining projects and mining profits	35%	19%	34%	11%
Investing in regional areas	16%	33%	42%	8%
Managing the environment	28%	11%	53%	8%
Managing our water resources	21%	18%	52%	8%
Addressing climate change	35%	6%	48%	11%
Industrial relations issues	36%	14%	40%	10%
Reliable and affordable electricity and gas supply	27%	17%	48%	8%
Housing affordability	25%	18%	49%	9%

45% think that investing in public transport is mainly the responsibility of state governments, and 35% think that managing mining projects and mining profits is mainly the responsibility of the federal government. For all other responsibilities, the largest proportion think that responsibility should be shared equally between state and federal government.