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Top Federal Government priorities for 2021
Q. From the options below, which of the following do you think the Federal Government should prioritise in 2021?
Please rank all the options below by dragging and dropping them in order of highest priority (1) to lowest priority (10).
TOTAL: Highest priority (Ranked 1) | Total | Federal Voting Intention | |||
Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||
Provide the necessary healthcare resources to protect the country from Covid-19 | 24% | 27% | 23% | 10% | 21% |
Stimulate job growth | 13% | 9% | 17% | 9% | 11% |
Reduce household bills | 12% | 15% | 10% | 12% | 17% |
Invest in public systems (e.g. aged care, childcare, healthcare) to safeguard the country from the ongoing effects of Covid-19 | 12% | 13% | 12% | 8% | 9% |
Minimise environmental damage by addressing the effects of climate change | 10% | 12% | 4% | 25% | 15% |
Make the increase to the JobSeeker payment permanent | 9% | 10% | 6% | 14% | 12% |
Reduce the financial deficit in the Federal Budget | 7% | 5% | 11% | 3% | 4% |
Improve trade relations with China | 5% | 3% | 9% | 4% | 5% |
Include recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the constitution | 5% | 4% | 6% | 11% | 2% |
Build closer ties with the US and President-elect Joe Biden | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 4% |
Base (n) | 1,084 | 334 | 431 | 118 | 106 |
- About a quarter (24%) of people think the highest priority for the Federal Government this year is to provide the necessary healthcare resources to protect the country from Covid-19.
- Following this, investing in public systems (e.g. aged care, childcare, healthcare) to safeguard the country from the ongoing effects of Covid-19 was the top priority for 12% of people. Stimulating job growth and reducing household bills are also front of mind for Australians (13% and 12% respectively).
- Coalition voters consider stimulating job growth as a higher government priority than other voters (17% compared to 9% Labor voters, 9% Greens voters and 11% other voters).

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Download this week's ReportEssential Report
Two Party Preferred:
Labor
47%
Coalition
44%
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Federal government response to Covid-19
- State government response to Covid-19
- Better leadership during Covid-19 – PM vs state leader
- Attitudes towards Craig Kelly controversy and Scott Morrison’s leadership
- Views towards federal vs state government responsibility to manage Covid-19 hotel quarantine system
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