Health and economic management are the issues of most concern to voters in Saturday’s ACT election, according to the latest Canberra Times-Datacol opinion poll. The poll shows the Government scoring well on the environment, causing Environment Minister Bill Wood to say, “”There’s no need for the so-called Greens in this election. . . . Labor is the genuine green party.” The poll sows 40 per cent of voters are very dissatisfied with the way the government is performing in health, 28 per cent are dissatisfied _ a total of 68 per cent. Only 11 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied.
Yesterday The Canberra Times published details of voting intentions in the poll which put showed an increase in the Liberal vote with the two major parties neck and neck. The dissatisfaction over health comes amid a dispute over contracts for visiting medical officers’ contracts. The Government says they are being paid about 14 per cent over the Australian average and several million dollars could be saved if they came down to that average. This could be achieved by sessional payments, which the doctors reject. The Opposition says there are far worse blow-outs in health spending which have not been attacked _ the ACT spends more that 85 per cent over the national average on overheads and more than 45 per cent more on administration. It wants to make savings and channel a greater proportion of the budget in medical services to cut waiting lists. On economic management 51 per cent are very dissatisfied or dissatisfied. Only 14 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied. Opposition Leader Kate Carnell said the poll confirmed the Liberals’ campaign which was focused on health and economic management because the Liberals had seen those as the main issues of community concern.
“”The public is now perceiving us as two better on those two most important issues,” she said. With better economic management the Liberals could deliver solutions in other areas, like health. The Government has cited the ACT’s triple A credit rating as proof of its good management. Unlike last election, education is not a major issue. In 1992, Labor campaigned heavily on education after schools were closed by the Alliance Government. On the environment, nearly half (47 per cent) are satisfied or very satisfied with the Government’s performance. The Government is doing fairly well on law and order, too, with a 36 per cent satisfied or very satisfied level. The poll shows a very high level of undecided vote.
Qualitative polling by Datacol indicates that the minor parties and independents are likely to get a higher proportion of that vote than they have got of the decided vote. It shows also that Labor is likely to get more than the Liberals. The poll showed that more voters than in the poll a week before were going to “”cross vote”, that is vote for candidates from a mixture of parties and independents. Last poll it was 53 per cent; this poll it was 57 per cent. This could indicate a slightly greater realisation that the Hare-Clark system allows voters to hop back and forth across party columns to vote for individuals. It also augurs well for sitting members or well-known candidates at is shows many voters are more interested in people than parties.