Voters all aboard plan

Locals love Liberals’ bullet-train pledge

A $2 BILLION Liberal Party pledge to fund a 32-minute bullet train between Geelong and Melbourne is a hit with Corangamite voters, with nearly three out of four people surveyed supporting the move.

A ReachTEL poll of 788 Corangamite voters conducted for the Addy last week showed 71.6 per cent of those surveyed supported the fast train.

Only 14.4 per cent of those surveyed were against the plan, with 14 per cent unsure.

Support for the fast train was higher among men (73.8 per cent) than women (69.7 per cent). Voters aged 65 plus showed the strongest support at 73.2 per cent.

When asked to name the most important issue when deciding who to vote for, the majority of those surveyed plumped for the environment and climate change (30.8 per cent) followed by the economy (21.3 per cent).

The least important issues were education (4.6 per cent) and law and order (4.9 per cent).

Labor Leader Bill Shorten’s controversial proposal to crack down on franking credits has split voters. Last year Mr Shorten pledged that should Labor win the upcoming election they would axe cash refunds for excess imputation credits paid to individuals and in superannuation funds.

Our poll revealed 44.8 per cent of those surveyed supported Mt Shorten’s position while 41.6 per cent were opposed.

Nearly 14 per cent were unsure.

Not surprisingly support was highest among Labor voters (78.9 per cent) than Liberal voters (15 per cent).

More females (45.7 per cent) supported the move than men (43.8 per cent).

Mr Shorten said Australia was the only country in the OECD that has a tax system that operated like this.

“We are closing a loophole 92 per cent of Australians can’t use to help pay for schools and hospitals and to make room for tax relief for families and working Australians,” Mr Shorten said.

“When this first came in, it cost Australian taxpayers about $500 million a year.

“Within the next few years, it’s going to cost $8 billion a year. Every year.

“$8 billion is more than the Commonwealth spends on public schools or childcare.

“It’s three times what we spend on the Australian Federal Police.”

When asked to name the current member for Corangamite, 85.4 per cent of those surveyed said Sarah Henderson, 5.1 per cent Libby Coker, 3.4 per cent Richard Marles, 3.3 per cent Darryn Lyons and 2.8 per cent Bruce Harwood.