Selling the federal budget enters a tougher phase

People don't have high expectations of Wayne Swan, he's no Paul Keating or Peter Costello. For many that's a relief, of course. Many commentators treated Swan's first Budget the way Johnson spoke dismissively of female preachers.

Accordingly, Swan got high marks for getting through it all. The Budget seemed to meet the Government's claims for it as 'tough but fair'.

Over the last few days, the honeymoon effect has worn off a little and media criticism of the content of Labor's first Budget in 13 years has acquired a sharper edge:

• Ross Gittins opens his piece today with: "The more closely you study last week's budget the less impressive it is." His argument is that Rudd and Swan 'wimped' it on spending cuts.
• The Government is also drawing a lot of flack over the changes to Medicare.
• Health Minister Nicola Roxon is also defending the tax on alcopops from people who think the government should go further on binge drinking as well as those who think it has gone too far.
• And then there are those, like pensioners and carers, who are disgruntled about missing out in the 'working families' Budget.
• Rudd's environmental credentials, sky high after his ratification of Kyoto, are also taking a hit because of the decision to means test the solar panel subsidy.

This is not the end of it. There are criticisms emerging across the board.

It all adds up to a lot of fronts to be fighting on. This week will be critical for longer-term perceptions of Swan's Budget.