tony abbott is now at 40%. for the first time, the opposition leader is out in front and commanding lead so -- commandingly so. people were protesting on the streets in most state capitals over the weekend. they are upset about the measures running deep. abbott haster tony sayonded to the results to that the job is not a popularity contest. budget. a harsh people saying lies lies lies. >> it goes to the lying. it is a popularity contest. we are seeing a series of broken promises. all of these things that were said before the election. theses at the root of awful poll results. it is only 2014 and the next election is not due for a few years. there is time for them to bear some fruit from the tough decisions made last week. >> thank you. saysg up, our next guest that they are still at risk of a bubble here. that is when on the move returns. >> let's have a look at the trading day. it is positive. look at the overall region. on the way down. 40,000. the nikkei there. let's look. let's have a quick look here, as we

latest controversy surrounding tony abbott involves what's been called the sleezy wink.lains. >> reporter: tony abbott was only elected last september but since then he's seen his personal popularity plummet particularly in the last week in the light of a pretty tough budget his government has unveiled, big cuts to spending and increases in taxes. one area of concern is a phone shall increase in student the cap can been lifted meaning fees could be go up by 30%. that sparked protests across the country, tony abbott was supposed to speak but called it off siting security concerns. then add to the mix the revelation that his own daughter has received a scholarship of almost $60,000 from her design institute and the chairs of the governor of that inning tunes say personal friends of the prime minister and donated money to his party and the look isn't a good one. then you have what is being called in all at sleezy wink, tony abbott was on a radio station and taking callings from people concerned about how the government might affect them one of them was a cam called gloria s

the prime minister tony abbott reacted to these polls this morning.ever going to be easy. we weren't elected to take easy decisions. my job is not to win a popularity contest but to govern the country effectively. is it this harsh budget that has impacted ordinary people in has turned off voters, or is it the broken promises of tony abbott's administration? >> it wasn't a poll question, but it does get to the nub of the matter. it is interesting that tony abbott said he wasn't there to win a popularity contest, because that is what an election is really. it is a popularity contest, and a won it by putting trust is central issue. all through the election campaign, he was pointing at the outgoing government, the former labour government, for introducing a carbon tax when they said they wouldn't. he campaigned on an issue of trust and then went on to break a lot of election promises. if we take a look at this one sentence from september 23, about a month out from the election, he said, education, to health, no change to pensions, no change to the gst, to

prime minister tony abbott is trying to return the economy to surplus, and the biggest cuts will be to foreign aid, as andrew thomas reports from sydney - most australians are likely to be affected. >> reporter: this is prime minister tony abbott's constituency, the area he personally represents, the australia of postcards - foob u louse beeches and clients. australia economy, the wonder down under was the envy of the world. some say it still is, but not the new prime minister. he says the last government overspent and australia is on track for a $42 billion deficit this financial year. despite re-election promises, there'll be income tax for the rich, those living in houses facing the sea like those. increases in tax on fuel, and charges of visiting the doctor, cuts to health, education and publicly funded broadcasting. those that receive a pension interest the government will see it rise by less than had been planned and significantly the age at which people will be eligible to get a pension will rise from 65 to 70, for anyone born after 1996. >> for most people with desk jobs, they

the conservative prime minister tony abbott is trying to reduce the deficit, as andrew thomas reports from sydney, most australians are likely to be affected. >> this is prime minister tony abbott's constituency, the area of sydney he represents, and it's the australia of postcards, beaches and climate. australia economy too, the wonder down under was the envy of the world. despite the mining boom, some say it is, but not the australian prime minister. he says the last government overspent and is on track for a 42 billion budget deficit. despite promises, there'll be income tax rises for the rich, those living in houses facing the sea, increases in tax on fuel, and charges for visiting the doctor. there'll be cuts to health, education and publicly funded broadcasting. those that receive a pension from the government will see it rise by less than had been planned and significantly. age at which people will be eligible to get a pension will rise from 65 to 70 for anyone born after 1956. >> for most people with deck jobs, they could go on a lot longer, really. then, of course, it's hard

election,t year's tony abbott was famously saying that, in the next election, you are not going to get any new taxes from us, which has left thein the position of basing the difference between a levy and a tax. the government taking a bit of a battering. the political climate is clear. get your ugly budget out of the way nice and early. the next election isn't until 2016 and hopefully voters will have forgotten by then. i will be warding off hypothermia wednesday morning to tell you all about it. >> take a blanket with you, paul. stay warm. questions.at the big bangy do you think "bing theory" was so popular in china? it has a lot of cultural references from like when i was a kid. that translates to china? >> especially this young generation who grew up in the and are0's and 1990's quite familiar with american culture. really, the jokes provided a lot of happiness. the --ou have to write do you have to rewrite the jokes when it is all settled? >> no, it is george translation. >> -- it is direct translation. coming up next, going to check in on china with our next guest saying that 2014

let's move to australia, shall we, because conservatives there in the government of prime minister tony abbott the first budget since coming to power late last year. australians are facing higher taxes, cuts to welfare as well as a proposed rise in the retirement age to 70. in a bid to almost half its deficit which currently stands at $46.6 billion. well, our correspondent in sydney told us that the budget was a brave move. >> reporter: well, for a first budget from a government that was elected on the promise of no surprises and no rise in taxes, i think this budget is probably pretty brave or possibly fo foolhardy. we have a new deficit tax that's a tax on high earners. people earning more than $180,000, new taxes on fuel, the pension age is going to rise from 67 to 70 by 2035. and there are also going to be additional feese the aim of this budget is to reduce the deficit, but the deficit in australia is only 3% of gdp which many countries around the world would be pretty envious of. now, the interesting thing, i think, is going to be is how this pans out over the next few years. we're going

the conservative prime minister tony abbott is trying to return the budget to surplus.s andrew thomas reports from sydney, most australians are likely to be affected >> reporter: this is the prime minter's constituencie, the area of the city he represents, the australia of postcards, fabulous beaches and climate. until recently, australia's economy, too, the wonder down under was the envy of the world. despite the trailing off of the mining boom, some say it is but not the new prime minister. he says australia's last government overspent and australia is on track for a $42 billion budget deficit this financial year. so despite preelection promises, there are going to be income tax rises for the very rich, for those who live in houses facing the sea like those. there will be increases in tax on fuel and there will be charges visiting the doctor. there will be cuts to health and education and to publically finded broadcasting. those who receive a pension from the government will also see that rise bylaws than had been planned and significantly. the age at which people wil

. >> this goes to what prime minister tony abbott said last week -- or earlier this week when he was announcing the change in the new phase. the traveling public has a duty and a right to know what happened. >> yes. >> as well as these people. >> it's very important. >> because any one of us who travels, some more than others, could have been one of these names on this list. >> all right. now let me ask about the cargo. because there is -- we now have more information about the cargo. and that's the attachment here, everybody there is mangos on this plane. everything was on the plane. arthur, we also now find that we're 5,400 pounds of lithium-ion batteries that is new information, at least as far as we all know. we did not know that information. that's a lot? >> that is a huge amount of lithion batteries. to put it in context. in the united states, that would be expressly prohibited. you are -- >> that amount? >> that amount. by a factor of ten or more. in the united states, you are only allowed to carry i think it's about 400 pounds of lithion batteries. onthat, you're in violation

expect to maintain spending cuts as tony abbott tries to manage the books. >> the bottom line is, we left with ongoing deficits of four years of $123 billion. it is going to be a budget that makes the hard decisions. >> the government describes the current situation as a budget emergency, drastic spending cuts needed to alter the direction of australia's finances. its treasurer's first budget, but he says rather than the government cutting to the bone, all australias will need to share the pain. >> the structure of the budget will be very much around what we saw of the committee that ordered recommendations. the cost savings in the first few years are quite modest, then they started to pick up speed. >> the budget will be about making structural changes to the way government spends money. a leaner state after fairs and also the style of government assets like medibank private and possibly australia post. >> i don't think we'll see them set out a plan to get back to surplus this year or next year but i think in the meantime, they'll be heading back to surplus. >> the treasurer has fla