Turnbull ditches austerity mantra in Budget dash to middle ground

Canberra

WHAT a difference three years make.

In 2014, as his government prepared to hand down its first Budget, then Prime Minister Tony Abbott claimed Australia faced a "debt and deficit disaster" and demanded everyone do "his or her bit" to bring it under control.

The cuts to health and education that followed were widely reviled for unfairly targeting the working class, as Tr…