Australian Community Media, the publisher of 140 newspapers nationally, invited readers to pick their top three election issues from a list of 24 with CWD readers identifying the environment and climate change, leadership and health as the top three.

Aged care, household cost of living, economic management, the handling of the COVID-19 crisis and housing affordability rounded out the top eight.

In a wakeup call for the Morrison Coalition Government, which includes incumbent Member for Calare Andrew Gee, 32.67 per cent of CWD readers who took the survey chose environment and climate change as a major challenge facing Australia. Readers of Bathurst's Western Advocate, which is also part of Calare, also picked the environment and climate change in their top three.

Leadership was the second highest issue picked by Orange readers at 26.73 per cent with health a close third on 25.74 per cent.

Nationally, ACM readers also picked environment and climate change as the number one issue with 43.40 per cent of the vote with health next at 31.05 and leadership third on 26.53 per cent.

Charles Sturt University political science professor Dominic O'Sullivan said it's not surprising that these issues are front of mind for readers.

"They are consistent with what other surveys have shown nationally over quite some time, and I think if we look at the floods that are going on around NSW at the moment and the connection there with climate change, the bushfires that we had recently ... it's not difficult to see why climate change is so prominent," he said.

"The Federal Government's reluctance to set ambitious policy targets and to bring Australia into line with international thinking also puts the issue at the forefront of people's minds as they contemplate how they will vote."

While Prof O'Sullivan predicts The Nationals will retain the seat of Calare, he anticipates there will be a swing away from the Coalition at the election.

"I think a big contributing factor is that this is a second-term government," Professor O'Sullivan said.

"Towards this stage in the life of a government people start to get a bit more critical of what they see."

Prime minister Scott Morrison is yet to announce a date for election but the latest it can be staged is May 21.

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