SR,

As for the chaplaincy program, I am personally happy to see it go. I was pointing out to Poirot, that the court case was actually based on the legislation amendments that Gillard introduced.

What you forget is the outrage from China at Julie Bishop unequivocal rejection of China's extension of air space over the disputed islands.
I never said you were not civil, except your posts were starting to suffer from a deficiency of logic. The "disputed" issue is trivial and inconsequential, and whatever unlikely consequences might eventuate, they would be balanced by better relations with Israel, who actually have technological resources rather than just buying a few agricultural resources.

The art of diplomacy as with all negotiations is to play to the core needs of each nation rather than the rhetoric. The diplomatic prowess of the government needs to be judged on the overall results and so far the results are impressive. The prime example is the relations with Indonesia.

While the turning back of the boats was publicly unpopular, Labor's policy had led to tens of thousands of economic migrants causing crime and corruption, and costing the government millions to accommodate and feed them.

Turning back the boats using life boats took all the options off the table for the human traffickers, Marty Natalegawa was able to huff an puff for the domestic audience, and the operational silence allowed the Indonesian navy to offer full co operation without criticism from its internal press who had little or nothing to report.

The Labor generated spy scandal was a no win for both sides. Rather than cravenly grovelling as Labor wanted to do. Abbott stuck to his guns and rode out the storm, which as expected dissipated to virtually nothing.

The results: Boats - stopped. Cattle trade - restarted. Spy scandal - faded away.

Compare this to labor's obsequious relations with pretty much everyone, the knee jerk damage caused by the live cattle debacle and the Tasmanian trawler, and the almost complete lack of any tangible beneficial outcomes.

Before Abbott sailed them into the treacherous straits they currently find themselves, with a budget they can't possibly pass and a leader who is ruling out any significant changes to the legislation in order to do so - and a dissatisfaction rating of 60% in the electorate isn't something a major political party is going to feel bullish about taking to the polling booth.

Hell, the recently deposed Thai government had more public support: Tony would be hard pressed taking this sort of mandate to a coup, much less an election.

''The Greens aren't saying that all of these concessions and subsidies should be removed tomorrow, but just that there should be a factual and informed debate about who the 'end of the age of entitlement' is really hitting,'' he said.

The latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey has found working-age people have become far less reliant on welfare payments since 2001.

It shows that 23 per cent of those aged 18 to 64 received welfare payments every week in 2001, but by 2011 that number had fallen to 18.5 per cent.
Following Mr Hockey's speech last week, Matt Cowgill, an ACTU economist, published a graph showing where taxpayers' money was actually spent in the welfare system.

Four of our senior ministers in the Abbott government have been assigned secret-service style protection amid an angry backlash over the federal budget, while a fifth minister is also receiving personal protection over specific threats.
The unprecedented ramp-up in security measures has seen Treasurer Joe Hockey, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Education Minister Christopher Pyne and junior Defence minister Stuart Robert assigned Close Personal Protection officers from the Federal Police in the month since the budget.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has also been assigned CPP teams in recent months, with his controversial portfolio said to be the reason to ramp-up protection, not the budget.
Government sources have admitted the extent of the protection measures required are unusual.

This is the most successful government we've ever had. The amount of whinging opposition proves this to be the case.

This government, and our brilliant PM, have stopped the boats ..PERIOD. This government is saving Australia from terrorists, invaders and bludgers. Keep the brown skins out.

This government is saving Australia from years of economic disaster caused by the Labor incompetents who left us with huge debt.

All the left whingers will be silenced when the new Senate passes the necessary, nation saving budget legislation. The greenie Marxists and their Labor comrades won't control the senate then.

Tony Abbott is the strongest PM Australia has ever had.

Tony Abbott did his apprenticeship in national politics as a member of John Hewson’s staff. As the teacher surveys the work of his apprentice today, however, he’s distinctly unimpressed.

In fact, the economist and former Liberal leader is emerging as a consistent critic.

Some weeks ago Hewson criticised the Abbott government’s first budget as unfair. This week he criticised Abbott's policy on carbon emissions. And when I talked to him on Friday, it turns out that he is critical of pretty much the entire Abbott project so far.

Hewson prefaces his remarks by acknowledging that “it’s early days and it’s unfair to judge people so early on”. But he proceeds nevertheless to judge the government on its nine months in power.

His broadest critique is that Abbott, for four years his press secretary and political adviser, has failed to communicate a vision:

“They had a chance with the budget to pull all these bits and pieces together; the end of the age of entitlement, fine; not supporting industry, fine; now pull it all together,” says Hewson.

Lester1,

Yes, Tony and his Cheapskate Circus are positively scintillating, aren't they...

Consumer confidence has dropped by 17.7 points or 16% since the election. CommSec data on business sales for May is down 1.3%...which fits nicely with the slump in consumer confidence.

I'm sure Mr Snake Oil Abbott will reliesh a nice little recession not too far down the track.

And Eleventy Joe seemed to enjoy running up borrowings at twice Labor's rate to over $70 billion since the election.

Nice to know they've got people like you cheering them on for the time being.

"Tony Abbott is the strongest PM Australia has ever had."

Yes...but only in the malodorous whiff of his deception. (Perhaps don't stand downwind during one his awkward pressers)

You know this mob are toast, don't you?

Reinvention time coming for the IPA/LNP.

Certainly hard to fathom what is going on in the noalition, surely they have to be looking to see who could take control.

The whole front bench has been tainted to the extent of being untrustworthy. I doubt Turnbull would even put his hand up, as he would be on his own.

A budget that is not in the interests of anyone. A divisive budget.
Everything in the budget is designed to bring down the living standards of the ordinary Australian, this does not need to happen.

We were sold down the river at the election, with straight out lies.
The election was a fraud