Cost of living top issue for federal poll

BABY Boomers, Millennials, mums and dads and every state and territory are united on one thing this election – cost of living is their number one issue.

A YouGov Galaxy poll, conducted exclusively for News Corp, shows health will be the next biggest election battleground. But surprisingly Baby Boomers will be more likely to care about climate change and the environment on election day than Millennials.

Young Aussies ranked health (43 per cent), jobs (41 per cent) and education (38 per cent) as their biggest issues behind cost of living, which topped the list for every demographic and region.

Baby Boomers’ biggest concerns were border security (42 per cent), law and order, economic management and national security (38 per cent), followed by climate change (36 per cent) and jobs (34 per cent).

Religious protections, the number of women in politics and whether Australia becomes a republic were factors for only a tiny portion of the population.

Border protection and jobs tied for the third biggest election issues in general (35 per cent) – and ranked only slightly higher than climate change (34 per cent).

It’s good news for independents such as Tony Abbott’s key rival Zali Steggall or Kerryn Phelps, who are seeking to win traditional Liberal strongholds by pushing for more action on climate change. One in five Coalition voters consider climate change a key issue, while the number soars to 68 per cent for Greens’ voters and 44 per cent for Labor voters. Labor is likely to benefit the most from the current mood in Australia which is revealed in the wide-ranging “Australia Speaks” survey.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten unveiled a bold election pitch to Aussie battlers and a $2.3 billion health package to slash the medical bills of cancer patients in his official budget reply speech on Thursday night.

News Corp revealed yesterday the ALP was tipped for a landslide election victory, while the Coalition could lose up to 15 seats.

After five years in power, the Coalition is likely to take a hit over cost of living issues given wage growth remains sluggish and households haven’t seen a major reduction in power bills.

Both Labor and the Coalition are offering economic growth and stability as a major selling points.