Survey shows Mallee voters want more to be done on climate change

The YouGov poll, conducted on behalf of the Australian Conservation Foundation, found 59 per cent of respondents in the Mallee electorate wanted more action on climate change, with a 67 per cent average nation-wide.

The survey, which found majority support for climate action in all of Australia's 151 federal electorates, had 15,000 Mallee respondents.

The survey also showed 69 per cent of Mallee participants didn't believe fossil fuels, such as coal and gas, should be a part of Australia's energy future.

One in five said it was their most important issue in the upcoming election.

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Mallee member Anne Webster said two of her own surveys of the region's voters found the key election issues to be jobs and cost-of-living issues.

Despite this, she said she has a history of campaigning for investment in renewable energy technologies in Mallee.

"From my perspective, my ultimate focus is on how Mallee can contribute to Australia's energy generation mix. I see a very exciting future for Mallee to become a national leader in renewables. I have spoken about this on several occasions in parliament," she said.

"In Mallee, the commonwealth government has invested $15 million in a 'solar hydro' power plant at Carwarp. This innovative project will help to solve the challenge of storing excess renewable energy.

"The Mallee Regional Innovation Corporation, has also received funding to take part in a nationwide hydrogen cluster through National Energy Resources Australia.

"This cluster will advance research on new hydrogen technologies to help develop this emerging industry. This places Mallee in a position to be a national leader in Hydrogen, which is very exciting given the prospect of linking solar generation with the creation of clean hydrogen.

"The future of renewables in Mallee is exciting, and I'm pleased to support the emergence and adoption of these new technologies. We are going to reach our targets without destroying jobs or imposing taxes or new costs on households, businesses and industry."

Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassay said the results disproved the belief Australia's views on climate change were divided by geography.

"If you listen to politicians and commentators, you'd think most Australians outside of capital cities are vehemently opposed to climate change action - but this data shows just how wrong those assumptions are," she said.

"Nationally, we see a groundswell of voters prioritising climate change when it comes to making a decision about placing their votes. One in five voters in the Mallee now nominate climate change as their most important election issue.

"The gap between metro and regional attitudes to government action is small - a strong majority of voters in Mallee - and everywhere else - want to see the government do more on climate change action."

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