Economic Issues led by ‘Unemployment’ and ‘The Economy’ easily the most important problems facing Turnbull Government in Australia while Economic & Environmental issues most important facing the World in 2017

In March 2017, 35% of Australians believe Economic Issues are the most important set of problems facing Australia. This is down 2% since October 2016 but still way ahead of Religion/ immigration/ Human Rights Issues 14% (down 2%). On the World front, concerns about Environmental Issues 24% (up 5%) and Economic Issues 24% (up 6%) have overtaken Terrorism, Wars/ Security 16% (down 8%).

These are the key findings of new research conducted by Roy Morgan Research into the issues that concern Australians and the World. The research interviewed 622 Australians in mid-March 2017 and respondents were asked: “What do you think is the most important problem facing the World today?” and then “What do you think is the most important problem facing Australia today?”

Major ‘problems facing Australia’ – ‘Unemployment’ & ‘The Economy’ lead the way

When asked about the most important problem facing Australia, 35% of Australians (down 2% since October 2016) mentioned some kind of Economic or Financial Issue. Within the group of Economic & Financial issues the most important are Unemployment 10% (down 3%), Economy/ Economic problems and Interest rates 9% (down 1%) and Housing affordability 4% (up 3%).

Source: Roy Morgan interviewed a representative cross-section of 622 Australians in March 2017 following several previous rounds of interviewing between November 2005 and October 2016.

Respondents express differing views on their concerns relating to unemployment

Australians mentioning unemployment played upon a range of differing issues under that banner including the way the state of the broader economy impacts upon the Australian jobs market: “If we don’t have a stable economy it effects employment”, “Jobs and the economy, the insecurity and uncertainty in employment”, and “Probably the economy which impacts people looking for work and leads to unemployment”.

Many respondents focusing on unemployment also noted the changing nature of jobs with different industries creating jobs and other industries losing jobs and contributing to rising unemployment:

“Unemployment – the very limited manufacturing jobs in Australia for the young”, “The general lack of employment, no manufacturing industry to replace mining when it winds down” and “The increasing automisation of jobs as we go through a revolution over the next twenty years”.

Youth unemployment is also a huge issue mentioned by many respondents: “Apprenticeships and youth unemployment”, “Unemployment – because if the young ones don’t get a chance to get employed what hope have we got?” “Unemployment and its not improving. I think unemployment particularly for young people and where they’re heading, broadly when I compare to when I was that age in the 1950s things were a lot different”, “The high rate of youth unemployment”, and “Jobs for the young people”.

Another key theme emerging in discussion of unemployment was the related issue of under-employment which Roy Morgan keeps a keen eye on with our monthly employment estimates – Roy Morgan estimates February under-employment of 8.5%: “Employment because there’s not enough full-time employment and increasing under-employment”, “I’d say employment because we have a large chronic problem with unemployment and under-employment”, “There aren’t enough jobs and where there are jobs those are becoming part-time”, and “The casualisation of the work-force.”

Respondents views on economic problems focus on Australia’s finances, debt and growth policy

Australians regarding the Economy/ Economic problems/ interest rates as the largest problem facing Australia often simply stated “The economy”, as the largest problem, however, several respondents went into further detail about aspects of the economy that were of particular concern.

One of the most prominent problems raised was in regards to Australia’s finances and debt which was mentioned by many respondents: “Balancing Australia’s finances”, “We have enormous debt, we don’t make anything anymore, like industry, and no longer even have qualified and capable people”, “Our national debt stymies our growth and means we lose manufacturing which leads to increased homelessness and unemployment” and “The economic deficit means we’re living beyond our means and where is the money going to come from?”

The lack of economic growth was also heavily mentioned despite the ABS reporting that the Australian economy grew by a strong 1.1% in the December Quarter 2016 – faster than any of the G7 countries : “Economic growth in Australia is not what it was in the last few years”, “We need to try and get the Australian economy moving again”, “Keeping the Australian economy buoyant should be a priority for the Government” and “It’s the same thing as it is for the world generally, we need economic growth.”

In addition to more direct economic problems cited by respondents many were quick to point to longer-term economic and industrial policies that needed to be addressed to fix the Australian economy: “We have no coherent economic policy. The upper house can’t take any criticism so there should be a lot of action to cut the budget deficit to help more people get more jobs”, “Our economic vision and industry policy in Australia is severely lacking”, “We need to diversify the economy, pushing more towards STEM jobs in IT, science and other industries like arts and tourism”, “Neo-liberalism and the lack of culture and lack of intellectuals that it creates”, and “The Australian economy and the structural issues we have with the current economy and the heavy focus on the mining boom has been had at the expense of having other industries pick up the slack”.

Australians provide views on other problems facing Australia

The next most important set of issues, Religion/Immigration/Human Rights are named by 14% (down 2%) including the related policy issues of Immigration/Immigration policy 5% (down 1%), Religion/ Religious fundamentalism 2% (down 1%) and Multiculturalism/ Integration 2% (up 1%).

Environmental issues are mentioned by 12% (down 1%) of Australians as the most important problem facing Australia mainly centred on Climate change/ Global warming 9% (unchanged).

Another 12% (up 2%) of Australians mentioned a Social Issue as the most important problem. The most important Social Issues mentioned were Social apathy/ Family breakdown/ Selfishness/ Moral decline 3% (unchanged), Educational Issues 3% (up 1%) and Drugs and drug abuse 2% (unchanged).

Government/ Leadership from politicians/ The Prime Minister were mentioned by 11% (down 1%) of Australians. These issues include Politics/ Political system/Too much Government spending 7% (unchanged) and Leadership from Politicians/ Courage to lead/ Lack of vision 4% (unchanged).

Australians consider Environmental & Economic issues as World’s biggest problems

The biggest World problems are Environmental issues 24% (up 5%) and Economic Issues 24% (up 6%). They have overtaken Terrorism/ Wars/ Security mentioned by 16% (down 8% since October 2016) of respondents. The most important Environmental issue is Climate change 17% (up 3%) and the most important Economic issue is Poverty/ Gap between rich and poor 8% (up 2%).

Source: Roy Morgan interviewed a representative cross-section of 622 Australians in March 2017 following several previous rounds of interviewing between November 2005 and October 2016.

Concerns about Climate change/ Global warming continue to dominate as a World problem

With nearly a fifth of respondents (17%) mentioning Climate change/ Global warming unprompted as the most important problem facing the World the issue is once again the most prominent problem facing the World according to Australians, and clearly the largest Environmental issue.

Although many respondents simply said ‘Climate change’ or ‘Global warming’ when asked what the biggest problem facing the World is, other respondents provided a more detailed response to the question bringing up specific aspects of the issue.

Some were strident in their calls for action on the issue with statements like “Climate change – because we’re all screwed if we don’t do something about it”, “Global warming is a problem because the sea levels are going to rise and the ice caps are going to melt” and “The end of humanity, the destruction of the environment and the extinction of animal species due to climate change”, while others called for Australia to do more “Climate change as I just think Australia needs to take a leadership role to make things happen quicker”.

Several respondents expressed frustration at the way the world is dealing with the issue: “Climate change because of the lack of policy and direction regarding the issue – for example with regards to coal bleaching”, “Climate change and the lack of action on it so that we are actually reducing carbon emissions”, “Climate change because I don’t think countries are necessarily doing enough to reduce the chance of climate change” and “Climate change just because of the fact that they aren’t accepting the science and the Government is owned by the fossil fuel industry”.

Some even referred to recent weather events – although it must be noted this research was undertaken before the recent impact, and associated destruction caused by Cyclone Debbie and its associated flooding on Queensland and New South Wales: “Probably climate change as you just have to look at the extreme weather we’re having” and “Climate change and its clear impact on the weather that we get”.

Poverty, the gap between rich & poor and over-population the World’s largest Economic problem

Although Economic issues are recognised as the biggest problems facing both Australia (35%) and the World (24%, equal with Environmental issues), the exact nature of the economic problems mentioned differ when looking domestically compared to internationally.

On the international scene Poverty and the gap between the rich and poor (8%) is clearly the most prominent Economic problem mentioned by twice as many Australians as over-population (4%) – the next most prominent, but neither are widely mentioned in terms of Australian problems.

Those respondents mentioning Poverty often simply mention that one word “Poverty” along with several mentions of “Inequality”, but others do go into more detail about these issues: “Income and inequality”, “Global poverty”, “Economic inequality”, “Inequality in terms of the distribution of wealth”, “Inequality caused by the growing debt between rich and poor” and “Inequity of resources of difference between the very wealthy and very poor”.

In regards to poverty in particular there are many other inter-related issues that respondents mention including: ‘Poverty, because I see all of the nasty things in terms of the things it does to healthcare and lower socio-economic areas and I can imagine third world countries being even worse than what I see”, “Poverty which causes crime and people ripping each other off”, “The poverty in unwealthy countries living in slums, not getting enough food and water and contracting diseases and things like that”, and “Poverty, there are too many rich people who are not giving enough to the poor people”.

In terms of the gap between rich and poor respondents often mentioned the disparity of wealth and the impacts it has: “The difference between rich and poor feeds into economic migration as well”, “The gap between rich and poor drives social inequality”, “The spread of wealth is uneven which means there’s far too much wealth concentrated in the hands of far too few people”, “Too much is owned by too few” and “The two-speed global economy drives growth and profits for owners at the expense of others:.

In terms of ‘over-population’ many respondents see the ‘over-crowding’ of Planet Earth as a pressing concern for the World on an issue that simply doesn’t register for Australia with one of the lowest population densities of any country on the planet.

Several respondents refer to the “Growing population” and “Population growth”, as well as “Over-crowding causing a lack of food”, “The uncontrolled population growth which doesn’t allow for a sustainable population worldwide and the lack of water, food and all these sorts of issues that go with it”, “The over-population caused by the total incompetence of the ruling classes across the world”, and “Too many humans and over-population ruining the environment”, along with “Too many people for the resources that we have and not having the ability to feed and sustain everybody” when highlighting the population pressures that the World faces.

Australians views on other problems facing the World

The most mentioned Terrorism/ Wars and Conflicts issue is Terrorism 8% (down 2%)

Religion/ Immigration/ Human Rights were mentioned as being the World’s biggest problem by 12% (down 3%). These problems include Refugees & Asylum seeker problems 4% (down 2%). Politics/Political system/Leadership/ Donald Trump is mentioned by just 4% (down 1%).

Social Issues are mentioned by 10% (up 2%) of Australians including Social Apathy/ Family breakdowns/ Selfishness/ Moral decline 4% (unchanged) while several Social Issues are mentioned by 1% of Australians including Anger/ Violence/ Aggression, Drugs and drug abuse, and Crime, Law and Order.

Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says:

For further information:

*Less than 1%.

*Less than 1%. #Sample sizes under 50 should be treated with caution.

*Less than 1%.

*Less than 1%. #Sample sizes under 50 should be treated with caution.

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. The following table gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. The figures are approximate and for general guidance only, and assume a simple random sample. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.