Before May's Australian federal election, many voters were feeling the squeeze of rising prices. However, a warming planet remained a notable concern.
What were voters concerned about ahead of the Australian election?
According to Vote Compass data shared by ABC, the cost of living was the main worry among Australia's voters, with 25.7% noting this was their top issue.
That's a marked change from 2022, when a warming planet was the top worry among 23.4% of voters. In 2025, only 7.9% of voters said the climate was a main concern. However, the climate was still the second-most important issue among Labor voters.
As Stephen Long, a senior fellow at The Australia Institute, observed, the climate crisis went under the radar.
"Why is it receiving so little attention?" Long asked. "Perhaps it is because everyone has decided this is the 'cost-of-living election.'"
Long added that "the reporting, commentary, and much of the campaign rhetoric largely ignores the significant role climate change plays in driving up prices."
Why is the link between the higher cost of living and a warming planet important?
A report from The Australian Institute detailed how rising temperatures are increasing the cost of essential expenses.
For example, frequent natural disasters, supercharged by global heating, are leading to higher insurance payouts. This, in turn, causes insurance companies to raise premiums for homeowners.
Homeowners are spending over seven weeks of their gross income on home insurance, per the report.
"Insurance costs keep on rising and, while competition across big business sectors is needed, the thing that is driving insurance costs is climate change," Richard Dennis, executive director at The Australia Institute, stated. "The only way to keep insurance costs down is to keep fossil fuel emissions down."
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Definitely 🙁 Meanwhile, droughts and floods are disrupting agriculture, causing crops to die. This makes it more expensive to grow food, while shortages can bump up prices for consumers because of limited supply.
Food prices have jumped 20% since 2020 due to climate-related disruptions, and rising costs continue to disproportionately affect lower-income households.
Elsewhere, energy costs remain high due in part to a continued reliance on polluting dirty fuels, according to the report. Of course, the continued burning of coal, gas, and oil releases pollution that traps heat in the atmosphere, causing temperatures to creep up higher and making the destructive cycle worse.
How climate action helps your wallet
Addressing rising global temperatures is both an environmental issue and an economic imperative.
While moving to a cleaner economy requires sizable funding, the long-term costs of inaction could be more expensive in the long term.
For instance, if things continue on the same trajectory, it could lead to ever-increasing prices for everyday needs, disrupted supply chains, and more expensive disaster recovery. In short, rising temperatures affect the global economy and livelihoods.
"Food prices have also surged, and in some regions, growing certain crops is becoming harder and harder, making food insecurity worse, and even without price-gouging … prices are expected to keep rising due to the ongoing climate crisis," said Mark Ogge, principal advisor at The Australia Institute.
Investing in renewable energy (solar, wind, etc.) can bring cheaper, more stable electricity prices, while promoting sustainable agriculture creates a food supply that's more resilient to climate shocks. Elsewhere, strengthening infrastructure to withstand extreme weather reduces damage costs and insurance claims.
Working toward bringing the planet's temperatures back into balance isn't only important for Australia, but also for the entire planet. This can help ease the cost-of-living pressures on families now and in the future.
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