The fact that the DREADED deficit may yet turn out to be temporary must gall Nuttsie. I could not find the graphs now but at the time, responsible journalists etc were pointing to the fact that most of the anticipated deficit would be caused by lost tax revenues, not the spending.
The Treasury's budget forecasts predicted that the shortfall could be reversed in few years but they were widely dismissed as "very optimistic". Well maybe not.
But you are right that as the GFC hit, the coalition cut Labor NO slack and said that the budget was theirs. They can't claim all the good and blame all the bad (including the GFC) on Labor. Another thing overlooked is that the Hawke/Keating governments did a lot of good work (Hawke was the best Liberal PM we've had) and handed over an economy already in a clear up-trend. Hawky's "Compact" with the unions did more to bring union demands under control than Howard's antagonism ever did.
I believe the politicians and their rabid followers/detractors over-rate their importance and influence, at least in the short term. They say we get the government we deserve and neither side can deviate far from their expected path and remain in power so if we are in good shape that is a general plus for the electorate and the long term sense of the pollies, not the most recent budget. Menzies (who planted the seed of my long held dislike of Conservatives) had a "British outpost" mentality that took decades and a radical Whitlam to correct. If Menzies and Co had not been so backwards looking, Gough would not have been necessary. Conservatism CAUSED the Gough years.
