Antinuclear

Vote Compass finds confusion in Australian electorate about climate change action

Climate change looms as challenge for all parties http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-26/antony-green-vote-compass-climate-change/4909774  You need to go to this site to see details explained in excellent graphics By Antony Green 26 Aug 2013,   “……By proposing to bring forward the market price mechanism to 2014, the Rudd government has tried to address the cost of living issues associated with the carbon tax. It has also tried to return the issue to again being about climate change, rather than tax and the economy.

The change of wording from tax to price has not removed the political divisions created by the issue, as revealed by the results of questions on the issue in Vote Compass.

Vote Compass put the proposition to respondents that “the federal government should put a price on carbon” and asked them to agree or disagree.

Of the more than 800,000 respondents so far, about 400,000 answered this question as well as providing the demographic data that allows the sample to be weighted against the 2011 Australian Census.

Overall the survey revealed the electorate leaning toward supporting a carbon price, as shown below. (see graphs)

Overall Coalition intended voters oppose the price mechanism 57 per cent to 24 per cent.

Labor voters support a price on carbon, with 71 per cent agreeing with the proposition and 12 per cent disagreeing, while Green intended voters agreed 77 per cent to only 9 per cent opposed.

The slight overall support for a carbon price was created by Coalition supporters being a little more likely to agree with a carbon price than Labor and Green supporters were likely to be in disagreement.

A second related question asked in Vote Compass, “How much should the federal government do to tackle climate change?”, produced a very different response as shown in the graph below.

Labor and Green supporters are strongly of the view that the federal government should do more about climate change. Green supporters opted for more action 88 per cent to only 5 per cent opting for less. Among Labor supporters the difference was 75 per cent to 8 per cent.

Coalition intended voters were more evenly split, 30 per cent opting for less action, 26 per cent for about the same and 42 per cent opting for more action.

In the very first Vote Compass report we highlighted the enormous difference between Green and Coalition voters on whether they thought climate change was the most important issue. Twenty five per cent of Greens voters nominated climate change but only 2 per cent of Coalition voters made the same choice.

What the question on tackling climate change shows is that while Coalition voters don’t rate it the most important issue, they rate it an issue the government should do something about.

Coalition voters are strong in opposition to a carbon price/tax, but then state they want something done about climate change.

August 27, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | election 2013