Health top spending priority for Australian public

A public wish list of government spending priorities is revealed in a new survey that also shows significant opposition to climate change expenditure.

Health is the top priority for Australians in terms of government spending, a new survey shows. Picture: iStock

Health is the top priority for Australians in terms of government spending, followed by public housing, law enforcement and education.

A public spending wish-list is revealed in The Australian’s exclusive Needs of the Nation survey, which shows half of res­pon­dents think governments must target what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defined as “the infrastructure of opportunity’’.

Half the respondents cited health as a top priority, with one in three wanting governments to focus on community housing and public safety.

More Australians view education spending as a priority (31 per cent) than spending on defence (28 per cent) or welfare programs, roads and transport (22 per cent).

One in four people want governments to focus on electricity infrastructure, with 22 per cent prioritising spending on green and renewable energy transformation.

Environmental protection and conservation is a top priority for 23 per cent of Australians, with wealthier households and the under-50s demanding more action against climate change.

The survey shows 44 per cent of Australians believe Australia is not placing enough emphasis on dealing with climate change.

Twenty per cent feel the balance is “about right’’, and 29 per cent feel too much is being done.

Among the under-50s, 49 per cent want to see more emphasis on climate change issues, compared to 37 per cent of the over-50s.

Poorer households, earning less than $100,000 a year, show lower levels of support for climate change action.

Low-income families are more likely to suffer the hip-pocket pain of spiraling power prices, which are being fuelled by the high cost of replacing coal-fired electricity to “green electricity’’ generated from wind and solar power. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Low-income families are more likely to suffer the hip-pocket pain of spiraling power prices, which are being fuelled by the high cost of replacing coal-fired electricity to “green electricity’’ generated from wind and solar power.

One in three of the poorer households feel Australia is placing too much emphasis on climate change action, compared to barely one in five wealthier households.

Resistance to climate change action has grown over the past decade.

The Growth Distillery poll conducted for The Australian in 2024 shows that 29 per cent of people feel Australia is “placing too much emphasis on dealing with climate change’’.

This is significantly higher than the 19 per cent recorded in a comparable Newspoll survey in 2014.

Only 57 per cent of people surveyed this year feel Australians are doing a good job at protecting the environment – on par with 60 per cent in 2014.

One-third of people feel the country is doing a poor job at looking after the environment, while another 8 per cent are unsure.

Younger people, aged 18 to 34, are nearly three times more likely than the over-50s to think Australians are doing a good job at caring for the environment.