M

ay 19, Online/AP

Prime Minister Tony Abbott shrugged off opinion polls on Monday that show his government'€™s popularity had plummeted since the release of its tough first budget.

Two separate polls taken since Abbott'€™s government last week released a cost-cutting blueprint for the next fiscal year show the ruling conservative coalition'€™s popularity now trailing the center-left Labor Party opposition.

Your comments:

The Australian national budget is setting a new course for Australia. It is a shift from welfare dependency to self-reliance. Understandably a large part of the population that is addicted to welfare, health and education handouts is not happy with the new government. The current polls are largely irrelevant.

The smart move by any government is to hit hard in the first year and then work towards a final budget that will easily please the people most likely to vote for it. If the government strategy is correct, then the Liberal National Party (LNP) will have enough people satisfied with the government'€™s performance to return it to office.  

The LNP has to lower costs by reducing services, but not increase taxes, otherwise economic stagnation will take place. The budget will please those who are largely self-reliant but displease those who pay far less in tax than what they receive from the government.

Jagera