If Turnbull gets back in it's practically the same scenario... remember he WAS pushed out by Abbot. Albeit in opposition but it's errily similar.
What really f**ks me off is that at half a mill a year we will most likely be paying for 4 pm's that either weren't voted in or were ditched. That's $2m a year for life for a bunch of flogs that couldn't lead their way out of a wet paper bag.
Also you do realise that the whole budget surplus thing is not actually as important as it is made out to be by the LNP right? It's mostly just their current election strategy. Sure it's preferable but all it really means is our projected spend is less than our projected income. Even surplus budgets when actioned can still leave the country in debt and often do not actually result in cessation of borrowing, (especially when we buy EXTRA shiny fighter jets)
What really matters is that we see infrastructure projects implemented, economic growth driven and those that need it helped while working towards a balanced budget in the future (when the economy is better positioned.)
There is NO need to have it sorted by 2018, other than for the purposes of re-election.
What we need is a very centre right government. Unfortunately that is just not an option at ptesent.