Abbott, Credlin and Hockey had grossly overestimated their ability to convince Australians to accept short-term pain for long-term benefit. The government would never fully recover from the political damage of the 2014 budget. Most cabinet ministers quickly appreciated that the budget hadn’t gone down well, but they had no idea how seriously it would undermine the government’s reputation. If Australians knew what was going on inside, the damage would have been far worse.
