Having gone into its first budget last year with a reputation for favouring the rich, the Abbott Government has not only failed to wind back that perception but has allowed it to grow, write Peter Lewis and Jackie Woods.

Any federal budget is fraught with challenges: there's the debt challenge, the falling commodity price challenge, the ageing population challenge - external factors that define the right-hand column of our national bankbook.

Of course, budget challenges aren't evenly distributed. As Joe Hockey hinted last week he would love to have the challenge facing Peter Costello during his time as treasurer: doling out the proceeds of the mining boom for maximum political return.

But the biggest challenge facing Hockey's second budget is largely self-inflicted. It's the entrenched perception that the Abbott Government isn't governing for average Australians.

The association between the Liberal Party and the big end of town is firm in voters' minds and central to popular understanding of what the party is and how it operates. It's not all bad - indeed the association with business and wealth feeds into the enduring view that the Coalition are better economic managers. It must rub off, right?

But to succeed in government, the Coalition must demonstrate it can embrace the middle ground, that it can understand and represent the interests of regular people (aka voters). This week's Essential Report suggests that on this measure, the Government is failing.

Having gone into its first budget last year with a reputation for favouring the rich, the Abbott Government has not only failed to wind back that perception but has allowed it to grow.

Q. In general, do you think the policies of the Liberal/National Coalition and the policies of Labor favour the rich, favour the middle class, favour the poor, or do they treat all groups equally?

Favour the rich Favour the average Australian Favour the poor Treat all groups equally Don't know The policies of the Liberal/National Coalition... 56% 20% 2% 8% 14% The policies of Labor... 16% 39% 18% 7% 19%

More than half of voters believe the policies of the Coalition favour the rich, up a couple of points from this time last year. This represents double the number of voters who believe Coalition policies favour the average Australian or treat all groups equally.

This entrenched belief informs voters' views heading into next month's budget. While barely anyone thinks there will be anything in it for them, they have clear views about who the winners and losers will be.

Q. In general, do you think the next federal budget, to be announced next month, will be good or bad for?

Total good Total bad Neither good nor poor Don't know You personally 9% 41% 37% 14% Average working people 11% 43% 32% 11% Australian business 32% 17% 34% 16% The economy over all 19% 33% 33% 14% People who are well off 49% 9% 27% 14% People on lower incomes 11% 51% 23% 14% Australian families 13% 42% 30% 14% Older Australians 9% 52% 25% 14% Younger Australians 10% 43% 33% 15%

Winners: the rich and business. Losers: old people, young people, poor people, working people, families. In short: everyone else.

At the same time, there is a renewed concern about those at the top ripping off the system. A key trick in the conservative playbook is to stoke downward envy - suspicion of dole bludgers and single mums - to distract from inequality at the top of the income scale.

But while John Howard was able to build a support base among the "battlers" - using handouts, a judicious dose of bludger bashing and a genuine connection with life in the suburbs - Abbott and Hockey's efforts to capture the middle ground have fallen flat.

That's because their attempts to make welfare recipients pay for budget woes have been rightly panned as unfair, while a battle brews between middle Australia and the rich. Instead the electorate's resentful gaze has shifted upwards.

Q. Thinking about taxes, how concerned are you about the following?

Total concerned Total not concerned Don't know The feeling that some companies don't pay their fair share 82% 12% 6% The feeling that some wealthy people don't pay their fair share 82% 13% 6% The complexity of the tax system 67% 26% 6% The amount of tax you pay 54% 39% 7% The feeling that some poor people don't pay their fair share 37% 55% 8%

There are high levels of concern, including more than 50 percent of voters "very concerned" about companies and wealthy people paying their fair share of tax, vastly outweighing fears about welfare mums ripping off the system.

The question remains as to whether the Abbott Government's failure to convince Australians it can govern in their interests is terminal, or whether its second budget can rebuild confidence.

In this new era of upward envy that could well prove a tougher ask for the Liberal Party than returning to surplus in the foreseeable future.

The survey was conducted online from April 16-19 and is based on 1009 respondents.

Peter Lewis is a director of Essential Media Communications. Jackie Woods is a communications consultant at Essential Media Communications.