But a breakdown of the 2019 Australian Election Study showed territorians were otherwise markedly similar to the rest of the country on health, education, and taxation.

Labor under Bill Shorten suffered a shock defeat in 2019 poll, but swept the ACT's three federal seats. The party took an ambitious climate agenda to the poll, but was framed by the Coalition as economically reckless.

Though derived from a small sample, the AES data bore that dynamic out. It found Canberrans were far likelier than the average Australian to view global warming and the environment as key factors in determining their vote.

They were half as likely to list economic management as an important issue during the election campaign, and were less concerned about government debt.

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But on a range of other issues - refugees, education, health, and taxation - capital residents were in lockstep with the rest of the country.

Labor MP Andrew Leigh said the results dispelled the view of Canberrans as out of touch with the rest of the country.

"These findings should pop the idea of a Canberra bubble," he told The Canberra Times.

"There's a stereotype that Canberrans are markedly different from other Australians. Yet as these data show, our views on education, health, refugees, taxation and superannuation are very similar to those of Australia at large.

"There are some differences. Canberrans are more concerned about climate change and less concerned about economic management. But these reinforce the broad sense I've had during my decade in politics: the concerns of Canberrans are shared across the nation."

On the need for public expenditure, Canberrans were fairly consistent with the national average but wanted to see more investment in child care and the NDIS. That was offset by less desire for spending on defence and business.

Breakdowns of ACT voter sentiment were rare, given the territory's relatively small population. Its consistently strong trend towards Labor also meant there were rarely swing seats in play.

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