By Cam Lucadou-Wells
In a pre-election bombshell, voters in the South East have overwhelmingly backed nuclear energy, according to a Star News readers survey.
A huge majority of the 111 respondents supported the Coalition’s nuclear energy policy (71 per cent).
In contrast, Star surveys in Melbourne’s West and East found strong opposition to the nuclear option.
With a nuclear power station pledged for Loy Yang in Gippsland – about 100 kilometres east of Pakenham – a majority of South East respondents backed a nuclear plant in their local area (55.5 per cent).
Interestingly, most responses prioritised cheap electricity prices (78 per cent) over reduced carbon emissions (22 per cent).
The Coalition has touted nuclear energy as cheaper with ‘zero emissions’, while critics claim the $263 billion estimated cost for seven power stations is exorbitant.
South East readers also emphatically believed immigration should be reduced (74.5 per cent), compared to an increased level (6 per cent) and the status quo (19 per cent).
Several linked immigration to a shortage of affordable housing and insufficient infrastructure.
Electricity prices and immigration were among the top issues for respondents, along with cost-of-living – which was No.1.
Rounding out the top 5 was health services, and national-roads-and-rail infrastructure.
“The state of our roads is appalling,” said a Dandenong Star Journal reader.
Local hospitals (45.5 per cent) were readers’ top priority for more federal funding, followed by defence (21 per cent), infrastructure (16 per cent) and highways (8 per cent).
“(We need) more staff reducing waiting time in ED (emergency department),” said a reader.
“Our health system is suffering, too few doctors and nurses, ambulance ramping, hard to find a GP who bulk bills,” said another.
Readers nominated new infrastructure – a new Dandenong railway station, a new Palm Plaza, a link between Westall Road and Monash Freeway, a Melbourne Airport rail link, a new Dandenong Hospital emergency department and fixing road potholes.
Global security was looming as a concern for 66 per cent of respondents, just behind improving national roads and transport infrastructure for 67 per cent.
A majority of respondents were also concerned about housing affordability (56 per cent).
“There is way too much homelessness with no policies to combat this,” a Dandenong Star Journal reader stated.
In other results, a majority were intending to vote for a ‘major party’ (Labor or Liberal) (76 per cent) rather than a minor party (14.5 per cent) or an independent (9 per cent).
Most thought social media was having a significant impact on political decisions and public discourse in Australia (58 per cent).
Just 12 per cent thought social media had insignificant influence.
Two-thirds of respondents were aged 61-and-over.
