Treasurer Josh Frydenberg joined the ranks of Springfield’s Police Chief Wiggum of the Simpsons, and South Park’s Officer Barbrady, in his Q&A performance this week, adhering to the mantra: “Move along, nothing to see here.”

Frydenberg ducked a direct answer to almost every question. He looked ridiculous claiming that “we are back in the black” this financial year when we clearly are still in deficit and the wafer-thin surplus in 2019/20 is only a forecast. His unwillingness to admit the extent to which our national debt had increased under the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison governments was comical.

Of course, there is plenty to see here. The government’s electoral strategy based on the budget is to exploit the perception that it's a better economic manager. The “back in black” slogan is fundamental to this. Unfortunately for the Coalition, this is old politics – it will no longer be the key electoral differentiator.

The government’s economic narrative that “the good times are rolling on” is not resonating with the lived experience of an increasing majority of voters, who are struggling, day in, day out, to meet the seemingly ever increasing costs of living, while their wages are flatlining, their debt is at record levels, they have run down their savings, and their house prices are falling.