Abbott Government's bad seeds were sown very early

Colleagues and scholars from coast to coast, across Bass Strait and all the ships at sea.

Dateline: Australia, Federal Politics, Abbott Government, August 2015.

It's clear that the Abbott Government is travelling poorly in the opinion polls.

However, what might not be clear to many observers is that the Abbott Government's problems did not start with ex-Speaker Bishop's helicopter escapades, or with Prime Minister Abbott's 'captain's pick' to knight Prince Philip, or even with the 2014 Budget; the Abbott Government's problems started immediately following the 2013 election.

It was apparent from the outset that unlike the previous two changes of federal government - the Howard Government in 1996 and the Rudd Government in 2007 - the Abbott Government did not enjoy a polling honeymoon.

Rather than the voters embracing the new government and affirming that a good choice had been made at the election, the polling showed that a sombre mood of buyer's remorse had permeated throughout the collective consciousness of the public.

Rebecca Huntley, Executive Director of Ipsos Australia Research, who was quoted in an article by Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald on November 30, 2013, explained it this way:

"Voters' expectations of the Government are not being met, and their fears are being realised."

That was the story of the Abbott Government then, and it's the same story now. 

(click on graph to see enlarged version)