Last week the Labor government delivered its first budget in thirteen years to mixed reviews, to which opposition leader Brendan Nelson responded in a not-totally-pathetic fashion when put in the context of his dismal leadership record. Today the coalition was handed a rare golden opportunity to stick one up Labor…

The exclusive Herald Sun/Galaxy poll taken at the weekend shows just 23 per cent of voters overall believe they will be better off as a result of the Budget.

A total of 33 per cent said they would be worse off, while a large pool of 44 per cent were uncommitted.

…and what do they do with it?

MALCOLM Turnbull has publicly confirmed a split within Liberal ranks over fuel excise but denied he is the source of a devastating leak that threatens to reignite the Liberal leadership question.

Them crazy Liberal attention seekers noticed that the negative spotlight looked set to shine elsewhere so they imploded just a little bit more to ensure that they stayed smack-bang in the centre of punters’ attention.

And what’s with Turnbull so actively undermining Nelson’s leadership in the public sphere? As if you’d put your concerns about a major party policy in an email to the leader’s chief of staff only minutes before that policy’s announcement unless you planned to use that email to boost yourself at a later date.

Sez Turnbull: “Naturally I support the policy measures announced in Dr Nelson’s Budget Reply.”

Bwah! Hah, ha, ha, haw!