Approval of Albanese government’s handling of cost-of-living crisis falls

Public approval of Labor’s handling of the cost of living, housing and interest rates has dropped 10 points since the 2022 election as concern about rising living costs has risen 15 points during the same time.

Since the last election the “importance” of the environment and climate has dropped more than 10 points to fall to the least important “top five” issues, according to new analysis of JWS Research.

The high importance of cost-of-living concerns and the decline in the importance of climate as well as the falling support for the Labor government’s handling of the pressures on families and households comes as Peter Dutton vows to abandon 2030 carbon emissions targets to “help families”.

The analysis of how the public rates government performance and the importance of issues shows cost-of-living concerns began growing under the Morrison Coalition government and was at an importance rating of 65 points at the May 2022 election.

Since the election, cost of living has extended its lead dramatically as the most important issue going from 65 points in May 2022 to 80 points in May 2024.

Housing and interest rate concerns have rocketed over the same period rising from 37 points to 55 points while economic concerns generally have remained steady.

The importance of the environment and climate has plunged 10 points to 29 points to be at the bottom of the top five issues.

The ranking of how the government is performing on the key issues has improved for the environment and climate change, lifting from 41 to 46 points, but housing and interest rate management has fallen from 41 to 30 points and cost of living, Anthony Albanese’s key winning election strategy, has also fallen 10 points from 36 points to 26 points in May this year.

The fall in performance on the cost of living has come despite tax cuts, welfare support and a $300 energy rebate.