Broken election promises hurting Abbott

Sydney

TONY Abbott, whose relentless taunts of Julia Gillard for breaking an election promise helped make him Australia's 28th prime minister, is suffering the biggest fall in public approval for a new government in 30 years as he faces a similar attack on his integrity. Ms Gillard, Australia's first female prime minister, had backtracked on a 2010 pre-election pledge not to introduce a carbon tax.

On the eve of the September 2013 election, Mr Abbott vowed he wouldn't cut funding to popular programmes. Now, in an effort to rein in a A$48.5 billion (S$53.9 billion) budget deficit, his government plans to reduce spending on schools and hospitals by A$80 billion over the next decade and trim funding for the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC).