Two opinion polls were released last week showing marked improvement in Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s standing among voters, putting the Coalition neck-and-neck with Labor.

The Fairfax-Ipsos poll showed the both Coalition and Labor on 50 per cent on a two-party preferred basis with Mr Abbott leading Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister.

Newspoll, also released last week, showed the Coalition on 47 per cent and Labor on 53 per cent using the same two-party preferred measure while Mr Abbott also led Mr Shorten as the preferred national leader. 

Both polls presented the Coalition with a higher standing than earlier this year during the aborted Liberal Party leadership spill following on from the Queensland state election.

Mr Tehan said community feedback for the small business package had been supportive with a number of proprietors keen to invest in their businesses.

“I’ve been out and about across the electorate talking to small businesses about the budget and the feedback has been strong,” the Liberal MP said.

“Small businesses say these new measures provide the confidence they need and the community needs to keep our economy strong. 

“For instance, I was speaking to a few small business people in Lake Bolac and they were telling me about how they were set to improve their business by going out and purchasing new equipment.”

Former Wannon Labor candidate Michael Barling said south-west Victoria had received little from the federal budget with working families financially penalised.

“If you look at the average wage in Wannon, the last figures showed it was roughly $50,000 but there’s little in the budget for the average household,” Mr Barling said.

“Paid parental leave has been thrown around and now it’s gone, Family Tax Benefit B has been tampered with and it’s families in the south-west that are hardest hit. 

“It’s the same old tactics from Tony Abbott — distract people with talk about dole bludgers while 55 of some of Australia’s richest people pay no tax at all.”