JWS Research conducted a post election survey asking 1,000 voters how they voted in last Saturday’s federal election, why they voted that way, what information sources and issues were influential, and how they felt about the respective campaigns. Full results and analysis are available to download from the link below.
The survey results were reported by Political Editor Phillip Coorey in this morning’s edition of the Australian Financial Review: Why the economy (and Bill Shorten) gave Morrison victory and Old media still the best source for election info.
What issues did voters care about this election?
When important issues are grouped into environmental issues (climate change and the environment) and economic issues (tax, economic management, jobs and franking credits), it was the economic message that won the day. Among all 1,000 voters surveyed, 39 per cent cited economic-related issues as influencing their vote, compared to 27 per cent for the environment and climate change.
Among Coalition voters, economic issues were significantly more influential, with 53 per cent saying that the economic issues that made up the Coalition’s campaign message, tax, economic, management, jobs and franking credits, influenced their vote on Saturday. On the flip side, environmental issues were more compelling for Labor (39 per cent) and Greens voters (61 per cent). It may have been touted as a climate change election, but for Coalition voters, this election was more defined by economic considerations.
Coalition voters voted primarily on economic management (25 per cent) and tax (23 per cent), and also found franking credits (11 per cent) significantly more important to their vote than among other groups. Those who voted for Labor candidates, however, found the issues of climate change (30 per cent), health (29 per cent), education (22 per cent) and the environment (12 per cent) important to their vote. Labor and Greens voters were significantly more likely to rate climate change as influencing their vote in Saturday’s election, at 30 and 38 per cent respectively, compared to the average overall of 20 per cent.
This was just a snapshot of the overall survey results – for a detailed look at when, how and why voters made up their minds and cast their votes in the 2019 federal election, download the full report below.