Liberal Supporters “Betrayed” By Abbott

You know it’s all turning to custard for Tony Abbott when his own supporters voice their sense of betrayal over plans to increase taxes for virtually all Australians.

With support for the Abbott Government plummeting in recent polls, you could be hard pressed to find something else they could possibly cock up unless of course the Education Minister felt compelled to say something stupid like university students can afford to pay more for their education and the like, oh wait.

Pensioners, the traditional stalwarts of the Liberal party are already reeling from the Abbott’s looming changes to the Aged Pension, and they too feel betrayed.

Heck, even other supporters like the Business Spectator’s Robert Gottliebsen are also spewing.

“I have never seen so much anger with a Coalition prime minister [amongst staunch Liberal supporters in several States]” writes Gottliebsen in today’s Business Spectator.

“It’s not the potential increase in income taxes via a levy that angers them but rather the fact that they were misled by their leader.”

“The main weapon Tony Abbott used against Julia Gillard was that she lied over the carbon tax. And he could not have made it clearer that there would be no rises in income taxes in his government.”

“And it was that message of trust and predictability that Liberals delivered around the country.

…..Their supporters now feel betrayed.”

The anger among staunch Liberal supporters is intensified by the fact that the Prime Minister and Treasurer and other senior ministers in private briefings made it clear, in the year before the election, that they knew the budget had deep problems.

Higher income taxes were ruled out.

Last week, in indicating an income tax levy might be coming, Tony Abbott claimed that a five-year levy was not a tax. Everyone in Australia knows that is complete and utter nonsense.

Both Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have been accused of refusing to share information with their party room colleagues and are basically announcing policy on the run.

With Tony Abbott’s credibility already in tatters, news today that the avuncular Joe Hockey has been charging business leaders an “”annual subscription fee” in return confidential briefings, is yet another unwelcome body blow.

Hockey is allegedly accepting tens of thousands of dollars in Liberal Party donations from a select group of business people and industry lobbyists in return for access.

The donors are alleged to be members of a fundraising body run by the Treasurer’s North Sydney Federal Electoral Conference (FEC), known as the North Sydney Forum.

Donors are offered “VIP” meetings with the Treasurer in return for annual fees of up to $22,000.

Tony Abbott has today ruled out a “Federal” ICAC investigation to examine allegations of financial impropriety.