Rural voters have given the Turnbull government a thumbs up for its immigration policies but a thumbs down for its performance on regional communications, according to an exclusive Fairfax Media poll of Australian farmers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A survey this month of 1060 farmers across all states finds that economic management is the No. 1 issue that will decide votes in country areas on July 2, followed by agricultural policies, health and Medicare, environmental management and climate change, education, regional communications, transport and immigration policies.
The farm poll was conducted by Fairfax Media’s Adelaide-based Fairfax Agricultural Research & Marketing division and the results are published in the June 23 editions of the publisher’s leading agricultural newspapers, The Land in NSW, Queensland Country Life and the North Queensland Register, Western Australia’s Farm Weekly, Stock Journal in South Australia and Stock & Land in Victoria.
Asked to score the government’s performance out of five - from one for “poor” to five for “excellent” - rural voters give the Coalition a pass mark on export trade agreements (with a mean score of 3.3), immigration policies (3.2) and managing the economy (3.1) but regional communications rates a score of only 2.1 and managing the environment scores 2.3.
As Labor and the Coalition trade blows on the federal election campaign trail over the cost, technology and management of the national broadband network roll-out, the issue of mobile telephone coverage and internet access remains a sore point for voters in the bush.
Among voters nationally who rank the issue of regional communications a deciding factor in who they will support at the ballot box next month, 38 per cent rate the government’s performance as “poor”.
In Queensland and the Northern Territory 43 per cent give the Coalition’s efforts the lowest possible score, while in Victoria and Tasmania 50 per cent give its performance a rating of “poor”.
Nationally, only 1 per cent rate the Turnbull government’s performance on regional communications as “excellent”.
Of the voters nationally who say immigration policies are most important, 21 per cent rate the government’s performance as “excellent”. In Queensland/NT 27 per cent give the Coalition top marks and but in Victoria/Tasmania 32 per cent rate its efforts on the issue as “poor”.
The full results of Fairfax Agricultural Media’s exclusive 2016 federal election poll are revealed in this week’s editions of The Land, Queensland Country Life, Farm Weekly, Stock Journal, Stock & Land and the North Queensland Register.
Other questions asked of Australian farmers include voting intentions on July 2, preferred Prime Minister and Barnaby Joyce’s performance as Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister.