Roads and health top The Standard's state election survey

Over the past month, readers were presented with a range of issues. They were asked whether action was needed, and to rate each issue from "not important at all" to "very important".

More than 200 surveyed readers were all-but unanimous that the region's roads and healthcare had to improve, and politicians needed to be transparent and accountable.

Nine in 10 readers also saw health, roads and integrity as either "important" or "very important" issues in the coming election, with 70 per cent of people rating them very important. At the last state election in 2018, health and roads also topped the reader survey, but just 37 per cent saw them as very important.

Cost of living pressures were another keen concern in this year's survey, with 50 per cent of people rating it as a very important issue.

Education funding and housing access also came through as high priorities, with three in four readers saying schools needed more funding and better incentives to lure top teachers to the regions. Three quarters also said more needed to be done for prospective renters and first-home buyers.

Nearly 80 per cent of readers saw regional development as either important or very important, with 65 per cent saying the government should offer incentives to help employers draw skilled workers from the cities.

Environmental issues proved polarising, drawing a passionate 40 per cent who saw climate action and renewable energy as very important, but also 15 per cent who deemed it not important at all.

Public transport received a tepid response, as half the survey cohort said it was good enough and half said it wasn't, with 40 per cent rating it either somewhat important or not important at all.

Readers were also relatively uninterested in Indigenous affairs, post-COVID-19 business support and boosting regional events.

Between now and election day, The Standard will delve into the issues that matter most to our readers, using these surveys as a guide and pushing the local candidates to explain what they would do to fix what's broken in south-west Victoria.