Victorians feel the pinch as data shows cost of living most important election issue

Victorians want policies that provide more relief from cost-of-living pressures, which has been identified as the most important issue by more than a quarter of voters.

With four days to go until the election, an exclusive survey conducted by Resolve Strategic for The Age revealed what voters are concerned about the most and the party promises most likely to influence them.

Labor and the Coalition are neck-and-neck for the primary vote, as voters demand policies to ease the cost of living.Credit: The Age

More than one in four voters (27 per cent) said cost of living was the policy area influencing them the most this election, with the issue outranking all others for Labor and Coalition voters, as well as swinging voters and those living in marginal seats.

Only 12 per cent of voters singled out healthcare or the environment – the next two most important issues – as the policy area most likely to drive their decision on polling day.

The cost-of-living issue was also front of mind for Victorians who were asked to identify the election promises from the major parties that appealed to them. The Coalition’s promise to cap public transport fares at $2 a day received the most support, with 65 per cent of those polled backing the plan.

Labor’s promise to reinstate the State Electricity Commission (SEC) and set up publicly controlled renewable energy was also popular with 63 per cent of voters in favour of that policy.

On Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews visited the marginal seat of Morwell, where he vowed to enshrine the public ownership of the SEC in the Victorian Constitution.

“These Liberals would have sold off our water assets; they had broken them up into little bite-sized chunks,” Andrews said.

“We put it into the Constitution and that’s the only reason why they didn’t sell off our water the last time they were in office.

“So we will use whatever device we can to send the clearest possible that our assets that are essential, are not for sale.”

The need for cost-of-living relief was also identified as one of the most significant issues at this election in The Age’s Victoria’s Agenda project.

One pensioner told The Age that “the critical question” this election would be which major party could provide relief from cost-of-living pressures.

“Skyrocketing grocery bills, the rising cost of gas and electricity, and the stagnation of real wages whilst costs rise are questions I need [answered] from the political parties,” they said.

Another reader, from Melbourne’s north, said the rising cost of living, including fuel and rent, needed to be addressed by politicians.

Andrews said Labor’s free kinder, free TAFE and job-creating construction projects would all help families cope with cost-of-living pressures.

He said Labor would also provide another round of its $250 power-saving bonus to every household if re-elected on Saturday.

“In terms of what we’re doing about cost of living, we’re not just talking about it, as others do. We have always made it a priority,” he said.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the Coalition would not “promise the world” to relieve the inflation pressures on households. But he said policies to cut public transport fares to $2 a day, and to cover the cost of supply charges on power bills for six months, would make a difference.

“I think there [are] sensible things governments [can try] to do, and we’re going to try and do those,” Guy said.

The Coalition on Tuesday pledged $5 million to examine the prospect of building a deck over the top of the rail tracks to the eastern side of Federation Square.

Guy said a business case would look into creating a three-hectare public park that could be used as an event space and improve pedestrian access between the CBD, Federation Square and Birrarung Marr.

Guy’s press conference was hastily moved indoors after Liberal staffers noticed CFMEU workers conspicuously loitering around the press conference location.

The group of about 40 protestors found the new location and gathered outside the window chanting “hands off our jobs” – a reference to Guy’s pledge to pause the Suburban Rail Loop and audit other major projects that cost billions but employ many thousands of construction workers.

The Resolve research also found that fewer than half the number of Coalition voters (3 per cent) listed the environment and climate change as their number one issue when compared with Labor voters (8 per cent).

But Labor voters were less concerned about integrity in politics, with just 4 per cent identifying it as their highest priority compared to 11 per cent of Coalition supporters.

The poll findings are part of a broader survey conducted by Resolve Strategic that showed Victorians had dropped their support for the Andrews government since the election campaign began, with the major parties neck-and-neck on their primary vote.

Labor could be pushed into minority government, according to the latest Resolve Political Monitor survey, but on Tuesday Andrews said that “no deal will be offered and no deal will be done” with the Greens, who could win a further three seats.

“We’re out there campaigning as hard as we can for the re-election of a strong, stable majority government,” Andrews said.

At his press conference, Guy repeatedly referred to the Resolve poll as evidence of the tightness of the race, even though his party remains behind in two-party preferred terms. “Polls show you today, it is within reach, we can be rid of this government and this premier,” he said.

Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said she was ready to work with a future Labor government to push them to go “further, faster and stronger” on climate action, housing affordability and integrity.

“The polling trend continues to show today that a record number of voters are moving away from the major parties, putting Victoria on track to what could be a historic state election result,” Ratnam said.

“The Liberals can’t win and they shouldn’t. The question is will Labor form government in its own right?”

When voters were asked which party performed better in most policy areas, Labor remained ahead of the Coalition despite losing ground in almost all policy areas since the campaign started.

Voters marked the Coalition as the better performer in economic management and supporting small businesses.

Monash University Associate Professor Paul Strangio said the survey results suggested the Coalition had won the campaign, despite remaining behind 53 to 47 in the two-party preferred result.

He said while both sides were “doing very poorly on honesty and trustworthiness”, the integrity issues that dogged Labor early in the campaign “appear to have been damaging”.

“They seem to have piqued underlying concerns about the government,” he said.

“There is an interesting question of whether the controversies over Liberal Party candidates that flared at the weekend will now stall its campaign momentum.”

The Resolve Political Monitor surveyed about 1000 Victorians from last Wednesday to Sunday, with a margin for error of 3 per cent.

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