Social policy - post Abbott

Tony Abbott's departure as Prime Minister led many Australians to draw a sigh of relief. The first Abbott-Hockey Budget represented an unprecedented attack upon Australia's system of social protection, more so even than the first Howard-Costello Budget. Fending off many of these attacks is an important win, but there is little evidence the Coalition Government has genuinely changed track. Importantly, the shift to a more privatized, 'asset-based' welfare system retains large bipartisan support.