2008 Big Issue survey results - Top 50 issues

Rank

Issue

Average score out of 10

1

Water: including pricing and use; storage; rainfall and other sources.

9.15

2

Energy: including quantity; type and cleanness of energy mix; peak power usage capability; competition and pricing.

8.96

3

Education and training: including educational attainment (levels reached); critical subjects (maths, language, science); the role of government.

8.89

4

Labour skills: including skills shortages; workforce flexibility; on-the-job training.

8.85

5

Environment: including environmentalism; global warming; water resources; carbon trading; ocean resources and depletion; forests and deforestation.

8.63

6

Transport: including state of road; rail; air and water infrastructure; type of ownership; competition; productivity and safety.

8.57

7

Productivity: including overall productivity; by industry; international comparisons; lagging industries; methods for improvement.

8.49

8

Governance: including ethical behaviour of directors, executives and employees; triple bottom line reporting; disclosure standards.

8.48

9

Emerging industries: identifying, measuring and regulating emerging industries; the role of R&D.

8.46

10

Health: including the cost of healthcare; private vs. public expenditure; pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS).

8.27

11

Communications - including broadband connectivity and speed; rural and urban needs; mobile phone and internet density; industry competition.

8.19

12

Accountability: transparency; accountability of governments, ministers and public servants; corruption in office.

8.12

13

Ecology: including environmental protection and integrity (e.g. air, water, land, flora, fauna); remediation (e.g. salination, water pollution).

8.10

14

Innovation and intellectual property: including R&D spending; innovation; IP protection mechanisms (e.g. legislation).

8.09

15

World's best practice: measuring world's best practice; global competitiveness; shareholder returns.

8.03

16

Federalism: cooperation between national and state governments; overlapping responsibilities.

7.94

17

Workforce participation: by gender and occupation; long-term unemployment; chronic high unemployment areas.

7.87

18

Minerals: including fuel and mineral reserves (e.g. oil, gas, coal, uranium); ore reserves (e.g. iron, bauxite, nickel); native rights; carbon tax on fossil fuels.

7.87

19

Agriculture: including arable land (with water certainty); salination and degradation issues; crop suitability for land.

7.82

20

National savings: including levels of savings; personal (e.g. superannuation); government and business savings; incentives.

7.79

21

Inflation </font>: including overall inflation; consumer price index (CPI); demand side pressures; supply side constraints.

7.74

22

Investment: including areas of under-investment; by type and ownership; incentives (e.g. taxation).

7.73

23

Taxation: including level; mix; trends; world comparisons.

7.69

24

Regulation: including effects on business; changes; state and federal regulations.

7.69

25

Global trade: including trade liberalization; the WTO; export growth; type of trade in goods and services; booms and busts (especially commodities).

7.66

26

Age structure: including generational/age cohorts; superannuation; government budgetary pressures.

7.64

27

Trade (in and out of Australia): including mix of goods services; origin and destination of trade; availability and price movements.

7.58

28

Old sectors: including the future of agriculture; the future of manufacturing; managing declining industries (impact on jobs, regions).

7.52

29

Housing: including availability; affordability; ownership (e.g. owned vs. leasing).

7.50

30

Purchases - including availability of key materials (e.g. crude oil); price movements; strategic implications.

7.45

31

Investment flows: including source of funds and availability; domestic vs. overseas investment; foreign investment in Australia.

7.40

32

Market concentration: including emerging oligopolies; productivity and competition; prices.

7.37

33

Debt: including total household debt; mortgage debt; other debt (e.g. loans, credit cards).

7.34

34

Interest rates: including future trends; impact on investment; impact on housing and construction.

7.31

35

Asia-Pacific integration: including the size and growth of the region's; trade and capital flows; strategic/defence alliances and pacts; immigration and poverty.

7.24

36

Credit availability: including capital sources (e.g. banks, share markets, debt); domestic or international sources; private equity.

7.21

37

Population size and composition: including size and growth; immigration; geographic composition (e.g. city, rural, coastal).

7.20

38

Wages: including growth by gender; occupation and industry; performance-related pay.

7.19

39

Public ownership: the future role of government business enterprises (GBEs); privatisation; natural monopolies and market distortion.

7.13

40

Terrorism, war and security: including civil wars; international wars; ethnic conflicts; nuclear capabilities; rogue states; the threat of terrorism.

7.09

41

Global population: including population growth; ageing; poverty; income and wealth polarisation; emigration/immigration patterns.

7.05

42

Exchange rates: including future trends; impact on trade; impact on non-export industries.

7.03

43

Auditing and performance: including measuring financial performance; accounting standards and impartiality; internal and external auditing.

6.99

44

Work/leisure time mix: including changing use of time (e.g. work, leisure); leisure activities; full-time and part-time employment.

6.84

45

Sectors: including domestic vs. export markets; consumption vs. capital markets; government vs. private markets.

6.46

46

Contractualism: including the trend towards contracting out; income security; employer-employee implications.

6.36

47

Tourism: including tourism infrastructure resources; eco-tourism; new tourism opportunities.

6.31

48

Marketing: including changing mix of marketing (e.g. the Internet); direct marketing and privacy; expenditure on marketing and advertising.

6.16

49

Outsourcing: including increasing outsourced activities; supply arrangements (on or offshore); pricing; documentation issues; main areas affected.

5.79

50

Franchising: including the growth and disposition of franchising; legal issues.

4.87