A new research conducted in Australia has shown that nearly half of voters who switched to an independent candidate at the 2022 election did so because of climate fears.
The study showed that it was also the number 2 issue that led people to swing to Labor, behind concern about the cost of living – including affordable housing.
The ongoing research which was carried out by a group known as Climate Compass had 3,636 people interviewed after the election to gauge attitudes on climate change and found that 47% of voters who swung independent and 42% of those who swung Labor this year did so primarily due to concern over the issue.
The study found that more than half (58%) of Australians had become more concerned about climate change over the past two years and nearly three-quarters (74%) believed governments should be doing more to address it.
The results also highlight an ongoing challenge for the Coalition, which lost votes across the country due to its failure to take the climate crisis seriously.
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The social researcher who led the study, Rebecca Huntley, said that there was a clear message for politicians in the survey results.
“Hopefully, they’ll be looking at this research and seeing there is an appetite for greater ambition when they make their next round of commitments,” she said. “And corporate Australia should also be looking at this and saying ‘how are we making sure that there is momentum for federal ambition around this.’”
Huntley said that the responses challenged previous evidence that suggested concern about extreme weather events did not influence how people voted, adding that the last term of parliament included the catastrophic 2019-20 bushfires and devastating floods.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
