Mood of the Nation report: Australians want greater action from governments on rising energy prices

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Image: Issues for NSW State Election from Mood of the Nation report.

David Stolper
Partner, Research

Sue Vercoe
Partner & Managing Director, Research

Australians support government intervention on rising energy prices, enforcing gas reserves for domestic use as well as fast tracking new gas projects in an effort to help manage spiralling gas and electricity prices

Australians want greater action from governments on rising energy prices, including price caps, gas export bans, new gas projects and even steps to restore public ownership of power generation assets, according to SEC Newgate’s latest Mood of the Nation report.

 

In brief:

  • Australians want action on power prices, with strong support for new price caps, gas reservations and government control of generation
  • The recent Federal Budget received a lukewarm response, attracting a mix of positive and negative attitudes
  • In NSW, priority issues ahead of the 2023 State Election include cost of living, healthcare, housing affordability and climate change

Cost of living continues to dominate people’s concerns, with 68% now saying addressing it is ‘extremely important to them’. Grocery prices, mortgages, electricity bills and petrol prices are the biggest pain points with insurance premiums a particular concern in NSW.

73% of Australians now feel the actions of the current Federal Government are contributing to rising electricity prices (up from 61% in June) with 77% holding the previous Federal Government responsible for the situation.

Our survey of 1,472 Australians, conducted from November 9th to 15th, tested support for a range of potential initiatives that Federal and State governments are grappling with as they seek to respond to growing public demand for action on power prices.

  • 74% support putting new caps on electricity and gas prices that consumers pay;
  • 71% support limiting overseas gas exports, through an export trigger;
  • 70% support a code of conduct for gas producers to direct them to make more gas available for domestic consumption;
  • 66% support Federal and State Government taking back control of power generation from private companies; and
  • 63% support accelerating the shift to renewable energy.

There was also majority support for direct subsidies to reduce energy prices through either windfall taxes on gas companies (59% support this) or funded via new government debt (58% support). Bringing in new supply by fast-tracking new gas projects in Australia also attracted 56% support with only 12% opposed to this while only a minority (36%) want new gas and coal projects to be banned.

Despite the price rises there continues to be strong support for renewables. New results show that Australians typically recognise that the transition to renewables will contribute to higher power bills over the next few years, but that it will be good for electricity prices over the longer term (44% feel it will help keep them down vs 25% who feel it will contribute to price rises). 60% support developing new large-scale offshore wind farms, and 50% support relaxing planning approvals to fast track approvals for renewable projects.

Arguments that direct government intervention in the energy markets could deter investment and put long-term pressure on energy prices held little sway with the community, with only 24% supporting this proposition.

Growing pessimism for the economy in 2023

The short-term economic outlook remains quite negative (57% feel it will get worse in 3 months) and more people now predict that the economy will deteriorate in the next 12 months (51%, up 10 points since September).

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Rise in Federal Government performance

42% now feel the Federal Government is doing a good to excellent job, rebounding from 37% in October. However, the response to the Federal Budget was lukewarm, amongst those who knew at least a little about it, with 29% positive, 31% negative, and 40% neutral about the measures announced.

Challenges for NSW Government seeking re-election

The NSW Government is facing familiar issues to the rest of the nation as it seeks to win re-election next March. Cost of living, healthcare, housing affordability and climate change are the issues of great concern to the community.

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On the key issue of healthcare, we found that investment in hospital emergency departments was considered the main priority from a list of six options, followed by investment in more nurses, more GPs and greater hospital bed availability. The NSW Government’s performance rating has edged a little higher but from a relatively low base with its ‘good or better’ rating now at % vs 31% last month. Interestingly, reducing the cost of motorway tolls and stamp duty reforms both ranked quite low in terms of issues for the election.

Personal moods brighten as the holidays approach

Despite the economic doom and gloom, it is encouraging to see a slight rebound in the positive emotions people have been feeling in recent weeks. 46% of selected emotions from our balanced list of 32 were positive – this is up from 42% last month and perhaps a response to the warmer weather and approaching holiday season.

Contacts

Contact us for more information about the full Mood of the Nation research report. This will be the last report for 2022 and our research program will recommence next year.

David Stolper, Partner, SEC Newgate Research – david.stolper@secnewgate.com.au

Sue Vercoe, Managing Director, SEC Newgate Research – sue.vercoe@secnewgate.com.au

 

Geoff Chambers in The Australian

Push to power up on energy action as poll reveals 73pc of voters blame Albanese for rising electricity prices

Turbines at the Waubra wind farm in Victoria. Picture: Getty Images
Turbines at the Waubra wind farm in Victoria. Picture: Getty Images

CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

  • Australians want faster action on rising electricity prices and the transition to renewables, with more than 70 per cent of voters backing government intervention via price caps, triggers limiting exported LNG and a code of conduct that will force producers to keep gas in the domestic market.

    In a worrying sign for the Albanese government, a nat­ional poll reveals 73 per cent of people hold them responsible for contributing to rising electricity prices – up 12 points since June.

    The poll of almost 1500 voters, conducted on November 9-15, found while there was strong support for renewables, 44 per cent of voters felt the transition to renewable energy would “contribute to prices rises in the next few years”.

    The same number believed the transition would be good for prices in the long term.

    An SEC Newgate Mood of the Nation monthly tracking survey, to be released at a Tourism and Transport Forum NSW leadership summit on Friday, will show 53 per cent of voters believe Australia’s transition to renewable energy sources is “moving too slowly” compared with 17 per cent who said it was too fast.

    Sky News host James Morrow says renewable transmission will be “part of the inflationary costs” which will make it far more “difficult” to manage interest rates.

    The federal government, which is expected to announce a national response to energy ­prices in the next fortnight, is considering a suite of options to keep power prices low and protect manufacturers and households, including price caps and sweeping regulatory measures.

    The poll showed the highest levels of support for government intervention were new price caps on electricity and gas prices (74 per cent), limiting the amount of LNG being exported overseas via a trigger (71 per cent) and a code of conduct for gas producers to make more domestic gas available (70 per cent).

    Other measures include federal and state governments taking control of power generation from private companies (66 per cent), accelerating the shift to renewable energy (63 per cent), a windfall tax on gas companies (59 per cent) and direct subsidies to consumers funded by new government debt (58 per cent).

    Fast-tracking new gas projects attracted 56 per cent support followed by banning new gas and coal projects, which garnered 36 per cent support.

     

    SEC Newgate research partner David Stolper said voters were “increasingly holding the current federal government to account … and wanting action on prices”.

    Ahead of the government intervention, Mr Stolper said a majority supported price caps, domestic gas reservations, greater government control and boosted infrastructure investment to enable “more domestic solar export to the grid and for large-scale renewable projects like offshore wind farms and green hydrogen”.

    “It is notable that Dan Andrews’ pledge to restore public ownership of electricity assets through a new state electricity commission in Victoria appears to be in line with community preferences; it will be interesting to see if this trend spreads to other state jurisdictions,” Mr Stolper said.

    “An oft-overlooked aspect of cutting emissions is via changes to our homes and it is telling that the policies with the most support are for improving energy efficient standards for new housing and renovations and for programs to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.”

    Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe has offered a “rare burst of official candour about the direction of federal government policy”, calling for a “more flexible labour market,” says Sky News host Peta Credlin.

    Mr Stolper said “as one of the top cost-of-living concerns, there is strong support for government action on rising electricity prices and for it to speed up the transition to renewables”.

    “The community recognises there will potentially be higher energy costs for this transition in the short term but … believe it will be good for electricity bills in the long run,” he said.

    While the Morrison government wears the bulk of the blame for failing to keep power prices low, only 50 per cent said the war in Ukraine was a major contributor to rising energy bills.

    CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

    Geoff Chambers is The Australian’s Chief Political Correspondent. He was previously The Australian’s Canberra Bureau Chief and Queensland Bureau Chief. Before joining the national broadsheet he was News Editor …

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