Tony Abbott has had a better fortnight than he has had in all of the previous 18 months. It has been better because he has put a few millimetres of distance between him and the disastrous 2014 budget with its cruel attacks on the unemployed, low and middle income earners and on crucial government services.

The few millimetres of precious political advantage have only become available to him because Abbott has ditched every political principle and every soundbite slogan that formed the core Coalition proposition.

Negative gearing provides little to no incentive for construction of new dwellings.

Australian Labor can't afford to be a small target on fiscal policy – its opponents have honed a vicious line of attack that portrays Labor's successful defence of the national economy against the ravages of the global financial crisis as reckless waste. This attack goes to the core of Labor's credibility in the public mind and a small target approach will only help the Coalition fuel public perceptions that Labor should not be trusted with the public accounts.

A credible approach to fiscal policy should rest on four planks. Firstly, a Labor government's fiscal policy must be consistent with Labor values. Labor should never enter a race to the bottom on pensions and public services. That is why Labor should never have accepted a lift in the pension age – it is unfair and it's just not credible.