Essential Report

Priorities for upcoming Federal Budget

Sep 22, 2020

Q. From the options below, which of the following initiatives should the government prioritise in the upcoming Federal Budget in October?

Please select your top three choices with 1 being the top priority, 2 being the second top priority and 3 being the third top priority.

	Total	Gender		Age Group			Federal Voting Intention
TOTAL: TOP 3	Total	Male	Female	18-34	35-54	55+	Labor	Liberal + National	Greens	TOTAL: Other
Build more affordable housing	60%	57%	64%	60%	57%	64%	66%	54%	61%	56%
Invest in renewable energy projects	52%	53%	50%	45%	52%	56%	48%	51%	66%	54%
Invest in large-scale infrastructure projects (e.g. roads, transport networks, ports etc.)	48%	51%	45%	37%	47%	58%	41%	59%	26%	55%
Extend JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments at current rate	47%	47%	47%	52%	45%	45%	52%	39%	61%	44%
Directly fund jobs in aged care	41%	36%	46%	35%	37%	51%	41%	41%	35%	44%
Establish a universally accessible early learning system	27%	29%	25%	38%	31%	13%	29%	24%	33%	27%
Fast-track tax cuts for higher income earners	25%	28%	23%	33%	31%	13%	22%	31%	20%	21%
Base (n)	1,081	539	542	338	374	369	298	460	115	104

Building more affordable houses was the most selected issue, with 60% rating this as a Top 3 priority for the Government in the next budget. Investing in renewable energy (52%), investment in large-scale infrastructure (48%) and the extension of JobKeeper and JobKeeper (47%) also rated highly.
Fast-tracking tax cuts was considered a Top 3 priority for 25% of people.
Coalition voters were more likely to select investment in renewable energy (51%) than the fast-tracking of tax cuts for higher income earners (31%) as a priority issue. Investment in large-scale infrastructure (59%), build affordable housing (54%) and investment in renewables (51%) were the most selected priorities among Coalition voters.

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