CANBERRA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian voters have identified the environment and the economy as the most important issues in the upcoming general election in May, according to a survey conducted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The survey showed 29 percent of voters rated the environment as the top concern, up from 9 percent in the 2016 election, followed by the economy with 23 percent, down from 25 percent in 2016.
Healthcare was cited as the third biggest issue, with 8 percent of 119,516 voters who used the ABC's Vote Compass, a survey that asks users a series of political questions and then shows them where they sit on the political spectrum, picking it as their priority.
Importantly for both major parties, the incumbent Liberal-National party coalition (LNP) and Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), 30 percent of undecided voters chose the environment as their top concern.
Among ALP voters, 40 percent chose the environment as their top issue followed by 11 percent each for the economy and healthcare while for LNP voters it was 44 percent for the economy and 10 percent for the environment.
With the LNP needing to win seats off the ALP to win a third term in government since 2013, La Trobe University political scientist Andrea Carson said that the party would have to focus on the environment to win over undecided voters.
"Even though overall (LNP) voters don't tend to nominate the environment as their most important issue, the party, in order to win seats, need some of those undecided voters," she told the ABC.
"They are going to have to be very careful how they message around the environment."
Unsurprisingly Greens voters overwhelmingly chose the environment as the major issue and One Nation voters were most concerned about immigration and refugees.
