Citizens’ agenda: Cost of living is top priority for Murraylands voters
With the 2025 federal election right around the corner, these are the issues that matter to voters in this corner of Tony Pasin’s electorate of Barker.
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The cost of living is the number-one issue on Murraylands voters’ minds as we count down to the 2025 federal election.
Almost 100 voters have so far responded to Murray Bridge News’ election survey, which asks what issues candidates should talk about as they compete for your vote.
Forget the campaign trail and the manufactured PR – these are the issues that will help you decide how to vote on a yet-to-be-identified Saturday in May.
We’ve summarised them in a citizens’ agenda: your list of demands for Tony Pasin or whoever might succeed him as the next federal Member for Barker.
Here’s what you’ve told us.
Cost of living
This was far and away the most important issue for local voters, as almost 70 per cent listed it among their top concerns.
People worried that food and electricity prices kept going up, interest rates were hurting homeowners, and inflation was rising faster than their wages.
“We had $2.20 left in our bank this week,” one respondent said.
“We haven’t been grocery shopping in three weeks because we can’t afford to pay our mortgage and do big shops.”
Another respondent argued that “even earning a $100k wage leaves you struggling to pay the bills”.
- Agenda item: We want lower food and electricity prices, relief from interest rate and inflation rises, and higher wages.
Housing crisis
Second in voters’ minds is an issue that ranked number-one at the last election: the housing crisis.
House prices in Murray Bridge have risen further, by percentage, than in any other major town in Australia over the past five years; now properties sell in a matter of days, and rentals are still difficult to find.
Several respondents mentioned seeing locals living in tents, cars and caravans.
“Everyone has a right to be able to put a roof over their head,” said one.
“It should be considered a basic right, not a means to get rich.”
- Agenda item: We want more affordably priced housing in our region, and more help for people who have nowhere to live.
Climate change and energy
We received comments from across the political spectrum on this issue, ranging from people who wanted urgent action to slow down climate change, to those who thought it was all hogwash.
A number of respondents weighed in on the current debate about nuclear energy, and many suggested that choosing one source of power or another could lower people’s bills.
“(We need) a long-term solution … to avoid paying the highest prices in the world when we have the world’s best energy sources in our own country,” one respondent said.
The current drought loomed large in people’s responses, too.
- Agenda item: We want Australia to generate electricity from clean, affordable sources; and we want a sustainable future for the River Murray and the farmers who rely on it.
Health system
Concerns about health services in regional Australia were also prominent.
People had to wait too long to get appointments, and pay too much when they finally got them.
“The very people Medicare was designed for are being priced out of a health care system designed to help them,” one respondent said.
“The most vulnerable cannot get medical attention.
“In a wealthy country, that is wrong.”
- Agenda item: We want more accessible and affordable health services.
What is the citizens’ agenda?
After the election campaign begins, we’ll ask every candidate for Barker about their position on these important issues – one issue per week.
We’ll give you a chance to ask more questions at an election forum in Murray Bridge in May, on a date which will be determined when the election is called.
In the meantime, you can still complete our election survey – we’ll continue to update the citizens’ agenda if different issues rise up the rankings.
Be sure to subscribe to Murray Bridge News, if you haven’t already, to follow all our election coverage over the next two months.
- Have your say: Visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/mbn-election-2025.
- Subscribe to Murray Bridge News: www.murraybridge.news.
