AS readers may have anticipated, climate and energy policy are proving to be recurring themes for the Herald's Pub Test panel.
While they are not agreed on the future of Australia's energy landscape, the panellists - a cross section of our readership giving their take on the election campaign as it unfolds - see climate policy as an election decider.
A survey conducted in February, put "environment and climate change" as the number one election issue for Newcastle Herald readers.
For Renewable Energy Engineering student Jasmine Stuart, the lack of strong policy from Labor is a legacy of their their 2019 election loss.
"Labor seems to be hesitant in putting any strong climate policy forward now and are conceding to the middle ground. Which is disappointing," Ms Stuart said.
Also seeing Liberal policy "appeal to conservatives" , Ms Stuart marks this trend as a motivator for those turning to Climate 200 backed "teal" independents.
"As a coal mining country it's easy to run scare campaigns on the impact of climate change without addressing the economic and social impacts of not acting," she said.
"A lot of Liberal voters still care about climate action and these teal independents are addressing that while still speaking to other issues affecting those electorates."
Leah Stevens, owner of Stevens Conveyancing in Adamstown, stopped voting for the Liberal party over a decade ago. She said her concerns about the environment were not being met and that the Liberal party is not the "broad church" it once was.
"As a business owner, I have conservative elements and used to vote Liberal but the party has pushed away all its moderates which left people looking to Greens and Independents," Ms Stevens said.
"Small parties are really pressing the climate change topic. Where Labor is cautious because they have been burned before.
"I'm liking the independents with a strong climate focus because they are targeting those seats where people have become disillusioned with the Liberal party."
As evidence of the party's changing face, Ms Stevens pointed to former Liberal Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull's speech delivered to the Washington Harvard Club on Friday.
In his address, Mr Turnbull discussed the marginalisation of moderate voices in the current Liberal party and alluded to the role of independents in the election.
"Even if the members of a political party cannot escape from the thrall of the dominant faction, their traditional supporters in the electorate can do so by voting for an independent who has a real chance of success," Mr Turnbull said in his address.
Tea Gardens retiree Gordon Grainger, a staunch Liberal, said "Turnbull is the worst Liberal Prime Minister in history" and that he "fears" what would happen if teal candidates were to hold the balance of power.
"With all the talk about climate action and stopping coal it could be devastating for the economy if Greens or independents have too much influence," Mr Grainger said.
While we are reviewing the list of Mr Grainger's worst Prime Ministers, it is worth noting the 82-year-old said Anthony Albanese made a "big mistake" posing for photograph with Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating at the Labor campaign launch.
"They are both failures of Prime Ministers and posing with them puts Albanese in the same category," he said.
"In truth I think Albanese is probably a nice bloke but it is who he surrounds himself with that scares me."
In light of a parliamentary inquiry which found regional and rural health in NSW is at "breaking point", Mr Grainger said health care in communities like Tea Gardens should be a greater election focus.
"We have the oldest demographic in the state and currently have no access to a GP on the weekend," he said.
"There used to be one GP in Tea Gardens and one in Hawks Nest and they would alternate to be available on the weekend. Now we have a medical centre with more GPs and no weekend service."
Mr Grainger said housing affordability is a key concerns for punters following the interest rate hike, but said Labor's plan to invest up to 40 per cent in the cost of some new house purchases is a "recipe for disaster".
"They may make money when the market goes up but what happens if it crashes and everyone, including the government, is losing money," he said.
Leah Stevens, however, said the scheme is a "great idea" and that it reminded her of the Liberal rent-to-own policy under which her mother purchased the family home in the 1970s.
Bernie Wilson, a coal miner and avid Newcastle surfer, said the scheme isn't perfect but "at least it's something".
Mr Wilson spent the last week in the south of Queensland and said many friends he visited in the area, who were traditionally Liberal voters, had become disillusioned with the party and would be looking to Labor and independent candidates come election day.
