Tax, and particularly negative gearing, is at the top of the list of issues interesting Australians before the budget announcement, according to data from Facebook.
But climate change also features prominently – despite its not being a focal point of Malcolm Turnbull’s pre-budget announcements.
On the eve of the budget in Canberra, Facebook released analysis of 14m Australian Facebook users’ related conversations on the platform from 21 March, when Turnbull announced he was bringing the date forward by a week, to 27 April.
Tax – and especially negative gearing – dominated 70% of budget-related conversations over the six-week period.
But the topics of climate change, “big business” and asylum seekers also featured prominently in posts on Facebook by Australians discussing the budget.
Broken down by pairs of words most commonly used in discussion, “negative gearing” was No 1, ahead of “climate change”, “income tax”, “big business” and “asylum seekers”.
Politicians and parties dominated the list of budget-related terms, with the prime minister at the top.
But “negative gearing” appeared at ninth place in the list of 15, ahead of “climate change”.
Though negative gearing has been the subject of much media coverage and discussion, pre-budget announcements have indicated that climate change will not be a centrepiece of the Turnbull budget on Tuesday.
Those Facebook users discussing the budget were mostly older – particularly men aged 45-54 and women aged 55-64 – and based in rural electorates, with Richmond, Page, Lyne, Dawson and Macquarie (encompassing outer western Sydney and the Blue Mountains) the sites of the most related conversation.
There is a strong concentration of users on the northern New South Wales coast and coastal and mid-Queensland.
Politicians have also been more active in the lead-up to the announcement.
The platform singled out the treasurer, Scott Morrison, and the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, for their engagement with Facebook in the lead-up to the budget, with Morrison posting daily videos.
