Seven in 10 Queenslanders say that the environment will have a strong influence on their vote on 21 March, according to the results of an Auspoll jointly commissioned by Wildlife Queensland and WWF-Australia.

Almost three-quarters of decided and undecided voters put the environment as a top priority in their voting decision. 'This result shows how important the environment is in the everyday lives of Queensland voters,' said Des Boyland, Wildlife Queensland spokesperson.

Urban and regional voters were asked about the influence of environmental issues on their voting decisions.

'Political candidates need to be prepared,' said Mr Boyland. 'They will need to be upfront about where they stand on environmental issues and be ready for voters to ask them hard questions about how their party will manage our environment if they gain power.'

'Loss of wildlife habitat and the need for better habitat protection are major concerns for Queenslanders,' said Mr Boyland.

Regional and urban Queenslanders were equally concerned about the long-term damage done by land clearing.

More than 90% of undecided voters wanted to ban land clearing of endangered habitat.

Nearly 80% of all respondents doubted the economic benefits of unregulated land clearing.

Nearly 70% of people want the Queensland Government to buy new national parks to protect wildlife habitat.

However, the poll also showed that not many Queenslanders have been made aware of how badly their state performs environmentally against other Australian states and territories.

Despite their strong support for the environment, the poll showed that 8 in 10 Queenslanders are not informed about their state’s poor environmental record.

'More than 80% of people didn’t know that we clear more wildlife habitat than the rest of Australia and we emit more carbon pollution that any other state', said Mr Boyland.

'It appears the Queensland Government has been hiding the state’s poor environmental performance from voters,' he said.

What Wildlife Queensland says are the most important election issues

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