It's now a year since Tony Abbott led the coalition back to power.
Sadly, the brightest spot in the Australian landscape since last September remains the disappearance of narcissistic Kevin Rudd & the hapless Julia Gillard & her devotion to all things Unions!
Although Clive Palmer's populist & clever manoeuvres have spiced up the political scene, the Government has failed to inspire the voters as most of its senior members & in particular Joe Hockey confuse their newly found dogmatism for perception of conviction in the eyes of the voters!
And the perception created as a result of the usual policy gaffes & "foot in the mouth" political incidents, in particular in case of the seemingly out of depth Joe Hockey, is that the Abbott Government is in the pockets of (very) big business as much as Gillard Government's was in the pockets of the Unions.
The NSW Hunter/Newcastle weird brand of politics &the ICAC enquiry into illegal political donations to Liberal MPs in NSW is continuing to damage the Federal Government in no less way than the likes of Obeid & Trapodi damaged the Labor brand Federally previously.
And then there is the issue of Industrial Relations, the unaffordable penalty rates & the already evident impact on eg high youth unemployment, a legacy of Julia Gillard's Fair Work inflexibility. Tony Abbott & his competent & likeable eEmployment Minister Eric Abetz look like they have their hands tied behind their backs and are unable to deliver reform at the pace SME are asking for. Meanwhile real unemployment and underemployment continue to rise as a result of the unworkable Fair Work Legislation's penalty rates & Australia's IR reforms of the Hawke/Keating/Howard era are fast being eroded, not to mention competitiveness & productivity.
Furthermore, on the negative side, the PM's well know association with the likes of the arrogant & out of touch Cardinal George Pell (whom the PM refers to as a Mentor) & also his chief business "privatise them all" advisor Maurice Newman & his well publicised climate sceptic comments do not bode well for Tony Abbott's already poor public image as the most disliked new PM in living memory.
Nevertheless, Tony Abbott has delivered many of his populist core election promises: Boat arrivals have dried up (albeit due to very harsh draconian response), Carbon Tax & Mining Tax have been repealed & he is negotiating with cross bench Senators & some of the Government's reforms are good & necessary.
Tony Abbott (& his Foreign Minister Julie Bishop) have also handled international political issues well in the recent months & used international events to his full advantage to demonstrate his statesmanship credentials.
All in all,Tony Abbott has overall performed better than most of his team & in particular his Treasurer & his business advisors in his first year as PM.
