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In 2012 Australians believe the most important problems facing Australia and the World are Economic and Financial issues according to the latest Roy Morgan Research conducted on the nights of January 17/18, 2012.

Australian views on Problems facing Australia

When asked about the most important problem facing Australia, Economic & Financial issues are mentioned by 35% (up 2% since October 2011) including the Economy, Economic problems & Interest Rates 11% (up 2%), Unemployment 6% (up 1%), Cost of Living 3% (up 1%) and Disapprove Carbon Tax 3% (down 1%).

A group of issues labelled ‘Government, Politics, Immigration & Human Rights issues’ are named by 28% (down 4%) of Australians. Within that group 14% (up 1%) mentioned the Government, the political system, political leadership and Julia Gillard, 7% (down 7%) mentioned Refugees and asylum seekers, and 4% (up 1%), mentioned the related issue of Immigration/ Immigration policies.

Environmental issues are mentioned by only 11% (down 5%) as the most important problem facing Australia — the lowest since April 2006 (8%). The most important Environmental Issue is Climate Change/ Global Warming 4% (down 3%) followed by Disapprove Carbon Tax 3% (down 1%) and Other Environmental issues 2% (up 1%).

Australian views on Problems facing the World

The biggest World problems are clearly Economic & Financial issues (47%, up 2% since October 2011), which remains just below the peak of 51% reached over two years ago in May 2009. Within the broad group of Economic issues 21% (unchanged) mentioned the Economy, Economic problems, Interest rates; ahead of Poverty & the gap between the rich and poor at13% (up 3%), Financial problems/ Money issues at 4% (down 1%) and Over-population at 4% (up 1%) as the most important Economic issues.

Environmental issues (mentioned by 17% of Australians, down 7% since October 2011) are the next biggest problem facing the World today (the lowest since April 2006 (14%) — the most important issue is still Climate Change/ Global warming 8% (down 5%) followed by Famine/ Food shortages 3% (down 2%) and Other Environmental Issues 3% (unchanged).

Some 11% (up 2%) consider Social Issues are the biggest problem facing the World.

Michele Levine says:

“This latest Roy Morgan Issues Research shows that Economic & Financial issues are clearly the most important problems facing Australia (35%, up 2% since October 2011) and the World (47%, up 2%). A group of issues labelled ‘Government, Politics, Immigration & Human Rights issues’ (28%, down 4%) is also mentioned by many Australians as the most important problem facing Australia — well ahead of Environmental issues (11%, down 5%) — the lowest for nearly six years, since April 2006 (8%).

“In Australia the most important Economic issues are the Economy, Economic problems & Interest Rates (11%, up 2%) and Unemployment (6%, up 1%) and the most important ‘Government, Politics, Immigration & Human Rights issues’ are Government, Political system & leadership, Julia Gillard (14%, up 1%) and Refugees & Asylum problems (7%, down 7%) Only 4% (down 3%) mentioned Climate Change/ Global warming as the most important problem facing Australia.

“Australians clearly view the most important problem facing the World as The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates (21%, unchanged). This is well ahead of Poverty, the gap between rich and poor (13%, up 3%) Climate Change/ Global warming (8%, down 5%).”

These findings come from a special Roy Morgan survey conducted in Australia on attitudes towards issues facing Australia and the World in the future.

In Australia, a cross-section of 646 men and women aged 14 or over were interviewed by telephone on January 17/18, 2012. Respondents were asked: “Firstly, what do you think is the most important problem facing the World today?” and “What do you think is the most important problem facing Australia today?”

The research conducted was both qualitative (in that people were asked to use their own words) and quantitative (in that the ‘open-ended’ responses were analysed and ‘coded’ so that the results could be counted and reported as percentages).

Respondents were asked:  “Firstly, what do you think is the most important problem facing the World today?” and “What do you think is the most important problem facing Australia today?”

Most Important Problem Facing the World	The World
	Nov 2005	April 2006	May 2008	Nov 2008	May 2009	Nov 2009	Feb 2010	June 2010	Sept 2010	Dec 2010	Feb 2011	Mar 2011	June 2011	July 2011	Oct 2011	Jan 2012
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates	3	1	8	26	36	9	15	15	12	13	8	6	9	16	21	21
Financial problems/ Money issues	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	2	3	5	4
Cost of living issues/ Rising prices/ Inflation	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	4	2	2	2	1
Banks/ Bank interest rates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*	*	*
General Taxation — Mining Tax, Resource Tax etc.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	*	*	1	*	*	-	*
Housing affordability	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*	-	*
(Sub Total) Total Financial Issues/ Cost of living	3	1	8	26	36	9	15	16	12	17	11	12	14	22	28	27
Poverty, the gap between rich and poor	10	16	11	8	8	13	9	10	13	9	8	9	9	8	10	13
Over-population	1	1	3	2	2	4	6	4	7	3	5	5	5	4	3	4
Unemployment	*	*	1	1	4	2	2	1	2	3	1	2	1	1	2	2
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	*
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1	1	1
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1	1	1
Farming/ Cut food imports and support our farmers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	*	*	*
Homelessness/ Lack of housing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	1	*	*	*	*
Transport/ Transport infrastructure/ Road & rail	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	*
Foreign ownership & investment/ Selling our assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	*	*	*	*	-
General Infrastructure/ Energy, Water, Internet etc.	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	-	-	-
Globalisation/Fairer world trade	1	1	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	*	1	*	*	*	*	-
Industrial relations reforms	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total Economic/ Financial issues (Including Carbon Tax)	16	19	24	37	51	29	32	32	33	32	25	29	30	35	45	47
Climate Change/ Global warming	4	5	18	14	12	19	24	17	19	17	17	16	23	18	13	8
Famine/ Food shortages	-	2	4	4	2	4	3	2	4	3	3	4	3	5	5	3
Other Environmental issues	7	6	10	8	7	4	7	8	6	5	3	4	3	4	3	3
Pollution/ Rubbish	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	2	2	1	2
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	*
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1	1	1
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1	1	1
Natural disasters — Floods, Earthquakes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	5	3	1	1	1	*
Water conservation	1	1	3	*	*	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	*	*
Climate Change concerns are exaggerated	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Drought	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-
Total Environmental Issues (EXCLUDING Carbon Tax)	12	14	35	26	21	29	36	30	29	26	28	29	31	30	24	17
Total Environmental Issues (INCLUDING Carbon Tax)	12	14	35	26	21	29	36	30	29	26	28	29	32	32	24	17
Greed/ Materialism	1	3	1	3	3	2	3	2	1	2	3	2	2	3	2	4
Social apathy/Family breakdowns/ Selfishness/Moral decline	-	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	2
Anger/Violence/Aggression	-	1	-	1	1	1	*	1	1	*	2	1	1	1	*	1
Corporate Greed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1
Crime/ Law & Order	*	1	1	*	-	-	1	1	1	-	1	1	1	1	1	1
Youth issues (Homelessness/ Apathy etc.)	-	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	*	-	*	*	1	1
Corruption	*	*	1	*	*	1	*	*	*	*	-	1	1	*	1	*
Drugs and drug abuse	*	2	1	1	*	*	1	1	*	1	*	1	*	*	1	*
Total Social Issues	3	11	10	9	6	7	7	8	9	7	8	6	6	8	9	11
Government, Political system & leadership, Julia Gillard	1	2	1	1	3	2	1	1	1	3	3	2	2	4	2	2
Religion, Religious fundamentalism	2	5	1	3	1	3	1	2	2	1	3	2	1	1	2	2
Refugees and Asylum problems	-	-	-	-	*	3	1	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	1
Human rights	*	*	1	*	-	1	*	*	*	1	*	*	*	*	-	*
Immigration/ Immigration policy	-	1	-	*	1	1	1	*	1	*	1	*	1	*	*	*
Racism/Racial tensions	-	2	-	*	*	-	1	1	*	*	1	*	*	*	*	*
Aboriginal Issues/ Health/ Rights	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-
Intolerance/Discrimination	1	3	1	1	1	*	1	*	*	*	1	1	*	*	1	-
Multiculturalism/ Integration/ Assimilation	-	*	-	*	1	*	*	*	*	*	1	1	*	*	-	-
Total Government/ Politics/ Immigration/ Human Rights	4	13	4	6	6	9	5	5	5	6	10	7	6	8	6	6
Terrorism	46	20	4	2	2	6	2	4	4	4	3	2	3	2	1	2
Wars and conflicts	6	11	10	6	5	12	6	8	7	8	10	11	9	5	4	2
World Peace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	1	1	1	1
Security, Safety	-	1	-	1	*	*	1	*	1	1	*	1	1	*	-	*
Relations with other countries	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	-	*	*	*	*	-
Total Terrorism/Wars/Security/Safety	52	32	14	9	7	18	9	12	12	15	15	16	14	9	6	5
Energy crisis	-	1	2	*	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	*	1
Sustainable management of natural resources	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	1	*	1	1	1
Petrol prices	-	*	2	1	*	*	-	*	*	-	*	*	*	-	*	*
Depletion of fossil fuels	-	*	1	*	*	1	*	1	*	*	*	1	*	*	*	-
Total Energy Crisis/ Petrol Price/ Depletion of Fossil Fuels	-	1	5	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	1	2	2	2
Other health issues	1	1	1	1	1	*	2	1	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1
Hospitals	1	3	1	*	1	2	1	1	-	1	*	*	1	*	-	*
Total Health Issues	2	4	2	1	2	2	3	2	3	3	2	2	3	1	1	1
Ties to the USA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	-	*	-
Other	-	3	4	6	4	2	2	4	2	4	4	4	4	2	2	4
Can’t say	-	3	2	4	3	2	5	4	5	5	5	6	4	5	5	8
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

*Less than 1%.

Most Important Problem Facing Australia	Australia
	Nov 2005	April 2006	May 2008	Nov 2008	May 2009	Nov 2009	Feb 2010	June 2010	Sept 2010	Dec 2010	Feb 2011	Mar 2011	June 2011	July 2011	Oct 2011	Jan 2012
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The Economy/ Economic problems/ Interest rates	6	2	18	24	35	14	14	12	11	8	5	6	8	9	9	11
Cost of living issues/ Rising prices/ Inflation	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	2	5	6	4	2	3
Financial problems/ Money issues	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	1	1	2	3	2
Banks/ Bank interest rates	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	*	1	*	1	1
General Taxation — Mining Tax, Resource Tax etc.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	*	1	2	2	1	1	1	1
Housing affordability	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	*	1	1	*	*	*
(Sub Total) Total Financial Issues/ Cost of living	6	2	18	24	35	14	14	17	11	14	11	15	15	15	15	17
Unemployment	*	5	1	2	11	8	6	4	4	3	2	3	3	2	5	6
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	2	1	-
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	4	10	4	3
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	5	12	5	3
Foreign ownership & investment/ Selling our assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	2	1	1	2
Poverty, the gap between rich and poor	4	4	3	2	2	4	4	2	2	2	3	1	2	2	2	2
Farming/ Cut food imports and support our farmers	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	*	1	1
General Infrastructure/ Energy, Water, Internet etc.	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	*	*	*	-	1
Homelessness/ Lack of housing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	1	1	1	1
Over-population	1	*	1	1	1	3	3	2	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	1
Transport/ Transport infrastructure/ Road & rail	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	*	1	1	1	1
Globalisation/Fairer world trade	1	2	-	*	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	-	*	*	*
Industrial relations reforms	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total Economic/ Financial issues (Including Carbon Tax)	14	20	23	30	51	31	29	28	24	28	24	27	32	37	33	35
Government, Political system & leadership, Julia Gillard	9	8	3	5	6	5	4	8	11	8	9	7	9	16	13	14
Refugees and Asylum problems	1	2	-	-	1	7	3	6	7	5	8	6	9	5	14	7
Immigration/ Immigration policy	1	5	3	3	2	6	6	6	4	4	6	4	5	3	3	4
Aboriginal Issues/ Health/ Rights	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	*	1	1	1	1	1	*	1
Multiculturalism/ Integration/ Assimilation	-	2	2	2	*	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	1	1	*	1
Racism/Racial tensions	-	2	2	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	*	1
Human rights	1	1	-	-	*	*	-	*	*	1	-	1	-	*	*	*
Intolerance/Discrimination	*	3	1	*	*	-	*	*	1	*	*	*	-	-	*	*
Religion, Religious fundamentalism	1	2	-	-	*	*	*	1	1	1	-	*	*	1	1	*
Total Government/ Politics/ Immigration/ Human Rights	13	25	11	11	12	21	16	23	26	21	28	22	26	29	32	28
Climate Change/ Global warming	2	1	7	11	5	13	11	8	9	9	8	9	10	8	7	4
Approve Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	2	1	-
Disapprove Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	4	10	4	3
Carbon Tax	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	5	12	5	3
Other Environmental issues	4	4	6	5	2	3	3	4	4	3	3	2	2	2	1	2
Natural disasters — Floods, Earthquakes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	11	7	1	*	*	1
Pollution/ Rubbish	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	*	*	*	1	*	1
Water conservation	8	3	13	7	4	5	7	4	5	5	2	3	1	1	1	1
Drought	-	-	4	2	6	3	3	1	1	1	-	*	1	*	-	*
Climate Change concerns are exaggerated	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-
Famine/ Food shortages	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	*	*	1	*	*	1	-
Total Environmental Issues (EXCLUDING Carbon Tax)	15	8	30	25	17	24	25	17	20	20	25	22	16	13	11	9
Total Environmental Issues (INCLUDING Carbon Tax)	15	8	30	25	17	24	25	17	20	20	25	24	21	25	16	11
Crime/ Law & Order	*	2	1	1	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Social apathy/Family breakdowns/ Selfishness/Moral decline	-	3	3	2	1	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	2	1	2
Anger/Violence/Aggression	-	*	-	-	1	*	2	1	1	1	*	1	1	*	*	1
Corporate Greed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	1
Corruption	*	*	-	-	*	*	*	*	*	*	-	-	*	-	*	1
Educational issues	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	1	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	1
Greed/ Materialism	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	1	*	1
Youth issues (Homelessness/ Apathy etc.)	-	2	2	2	*	2	1	1	1	1	1	-	1	1	1	1
Drugs and drug abuse	1	2	2	3	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	1	1	*	*	*
Total Social Issues	4	11	11	11	6	9	10	7	10	8	7	6	6	6	5	9
Other health issues	4	4	2	1	*	*	2	2	7	5	4	4	3	3	4	3
Hospitals	3	5	2	2	2	2	4	4	-	1	1	1	*	1	1	2
Total Health Issues	7	9	4	3	2	2	6	6	7	6	5	5	3	3	5	5
Sustainable management of natural resources	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1	2	1
Depletion of fossil fuels	-	*	1	-	1	*	*	*	-	*	-	*	*	*	-	*
Energy crisis	-	*	1	*	-	1	*	1	1	1	*	-	1	1	1	*
Petrol prices	-	1	2	1	1	-	*	*	-	-	-	*	*	*	-	-
Total Energy Crisis/ Petrol Price/ Depletion of Fossil Fuels	-	1	4	1	1	1	*	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	2	1
Relations with other countries	-	3	-	*	-	*	*	*	1	1	-	*	*	*	-	*
Terrorism	19	6	1	*	1	1	*	1	*	*	-	-	1	*	*	*
Wars and conflicts	2	2	2	*	-	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	1	1	*	*
Security, Safety	-	1	-	*	*	-	1	1	1	1	*	-	1	*	1	-
World Peace	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total Terrorism/Wars/Security/Safety	21	12	3	1	1	3	2	2	4	4	1	*	3	2	2	1
Ties to the USA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	-	*	-	-	*
Other	-	8	9	10	4	5	6	7	3	3	2	10	6	2	4	5
Can’t say	-	6	5	8	4	5	7	7	5	8	7	7	7	6	7	8
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

*Less than 1%.

For further information:

Gary Morgan:     Office +61 3 9224 5213 Mobile +61 411 129 094

Michele Levine:   Office +61 3 9224 5215 Mobile +61 411 129 093

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