Joe Hockey has made a solid start as Treasurer, but having shouted about the problems of debt and deficit, he now faces the unenviable task of solving those problems while honouring his election promises, writes Barrie Cassidy.

As the year winds down, the opinion polls that partly drove the Coalition's return to power are now driving home a far more sober message.

They confirm the Abbott Government is the first in 40 years to immediately go backwards, with not the hint of a honeymoon.

The challenge for the Coalition is to figure out why that is so.

Had the polls reflected a new government introducing tough policies to energise the economy, then the slump would be understandable. But the first three months were not about that; neither will the next three. None of that will happen until the budget next May.

The early period has seen the Government set about dismantling what they insist are the unpopular and economically damaging policies of the previous government. That process should have been a positive.

But instead the Government is on average four points behind in the polls, and Tony Abbott is the first new Prime Minister in decades to have a negative net satisfaction rating so early on in his tenure.

Undoubtedly the biggest debacle surrounded Christopher Pyne's brain snap over education reform. To this day, heads are shaking over what that bizarre week was all about. To create so much angst and anger just to return to where you started is bewildering.

The Government, too, has created confusion over debt and deficit.

To an extent, the debt ceiling issue can be explained by a new government wanting to focus attention on the failings of the previous government. But now the electorate is more interested in the Government tackling the problem, reducing the debt, rather than making arrangements for a considerably higher figure. Cutting a deal with the Greens only added to the confusion.

The Government, too, would have angered many by refusing to do very much at all about MPs' allowances. While some ministers still insist taxpayers should cover the costs when they attend weddings, the government demands that low-paid child care workers hand back pay rises.

But in the past week or so there have been signs of the Government steadying the ship. Far from being a negative, the decision by Holden to quit the country has offered the Government a policy advantage.

There is now a consistent theme on industry protection. The days of handouts are over.

Holden made it clear that extra government assistance was not the issue. The industry was unviable and unsalvageable. The party was over.

Labor on the other hand carried on as if they hadn't even heard the company's rationale. They insisted that if the Government continued to throw money at the problem, everything would be all right.

The mid-year economic statement also gave the government a chance to refocus and to kick-start a debate on the extent to which governments can continue to provide generous assistance across the board.

However, the Government is not just a victim of Labor's spending. It is a victim of its own rhetoric as well.

For too long, the Coalition shouted about a budget emergency and a debt crisis. They created a sense of anxiety in the community.

Having won that argument, they now need to drastically reduce both debt and deficit a time when the fundamentals beyond their control will make that task extremely difficult.

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens said this week that in fact the budget is not in such a dire position that the government needs to begin serious budget cuts immediately. He said the issue was not about any one particular year's spending but "about a credible path for the medium term".

That sentiment gets the government off the hook for identifying the problem now but delaying solutions until May. But it also contradicts the position they prosecuted for years.

That's the dilemma. The Coalition spreads gloom and doom to talk up Labor's failings, but the more they do, particularly now in government, the higher they set the benchmark for themselves in the longer term.

The strategy does not seem to take account of the most basic realities; that whatever they do, the economy is slowing and unemployment is rising.

The proposition put for so long, that a change of government by itself will fix the problem, is no longer sustainable.

The early months give a strong sense that both the economic and political achievements of the new Government will rest with the Treasurer, Joe Hockey.

Abbott was devastating in opposition, but so far as the nation's leader, he lacks direction and purpose. He is not as good at inspiring and motivating as he was at criticising. It's a new role and he will need to get better at it in the new year.

Hockey on the other hand seems ready to pick up where other treasurers left off. It's almost unique in Australia that the treasurer takes such a leading role in directing policy and politics. Paul Keating insisted he did it all the time; Costello some of the time.

Hockey will have to find the happy medium and do much of the heavy lifting all the way to the May budget and beyond. On his performances so far in the Parliament and in the media, he is up to the task.

His difficulty will be whether in the circumstances the government can match its rhetoric and take the necessary decisions to make a real difference to the fundamentals. That will be no easy task having ruled out increasing taxes and making cuts in the big ticket areas like health, education and defence.

Barrie Cassidy is the presenter of ABC programs Insiders and Offsiders. View his full profile here.