Reputations on both sides of the political divide now hinge on the Budget, the first by Labor in 13 years.
For the government it is whether it has been able to live up to the claim by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan that they are economic conservatives.
For the Opposition - and in particular leader Brendan Nelson – how he takes the fight to the government will play a major role in his future.
Some of his colleagues recently stated that the time to assess the party’s direction would be when the Budget was delivered.
For the government the phrase ‘working families’ has been used whenever the budget has been discussed and with means-testing and a tax crackdown, the well-off are the ones which will find the budget hard to swallow.
From the first of January the baby bonus will be limited to families with an annual income under $150,000.
There are also tax breaks in education aimed at helping families meet the costs of their children’s schooling
The family tax benefit part B will also be means-tested.
"The government does not believe hard-earned tax dollars are best spent on tax payments to the wealthiest Australians," Mr Swan said in delivering his Budget.
"It is simply not defensible."
There’s an increase in the child care rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
And as expected those at the upper end of the income scale will be paying more if they want a luxury car with tax going from 25 per cent to 33 per cent.
Fringe Benefits Tax is also going to be tightened.
The promised tax cuts will mean an average income earner on around around $50,000 per year will be just under $20 a week better off.
The cuts are part of the $55 billion working families support package.
They have been the centre of the government’s election promises - despite critics arguing that they will only fuel inflation. And it’s inflation which the government has continually stated is what needs to be tackled or unemployment will rise along with interest rates.
With a budget surplus of $21.7 billion, Mr Swan defended the $7.3 billion spending cuts, claiming that there was the danger of slowing the economy too much.
During the budget lead-up, the Prime Minister claimed the budget would not be a one year wonder.
It was a budget which was part of “a new era of strategic investment in Australia’s future challenges”, the Treasurer stated in his speech to parliament.
This includes three investment funds which will have $40 billion poured into them as capital investment for infrastructure, health and education.
Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull has labelled the budget as “big spending, big taxing.’
While Dr Nelson claims it “targets people that it (Labor) doesn’t like…It’s a budget which does nothing for Australian families…”
How the central players react to the fallout in the days ahead will be crucial to both sides of politics.