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One of Tony Abbott's biggest supporters has rated the Prime Minister's performance a D-minus in the wake of the Martin Place siege.
Conservative broadcaster Ray Hadley delivered a stinging report card to Mr Abbott for his last couple of months in government during a radio interview on Thursday morning.
"I thought until about a month ago, you were going B-plus, I think you're now a D-minus," Mr Hadley told Mr Abbott.
Mr Hadley explained that one of the reasons for this was the government deciding to go ahead with its mid-year budget update at the height of the fatal Sydney siege on Tuesday.
"I thought that was a really bad call," he said. "We had seventeen people in there whose lives were at risk."
Mr Abbott earlier said that he tried to avoid scoring himself.
"If I score myself high, people think I'm full of myself. If I score myself low, people think I'm lacking in self-confidence."
He later added that it had been a "ragged conclusion" to the year for his government.
Mr Abbott conceded not everyone had agreed with the government's mid-year budget announcement.
"I carefully considered it and I made the call that the ordinary business of government should go on," he said.
"Some people thought it was a good call. Obviously some people didn't and you're in that latter group."
The Prime Minister said that people should focus on the glass "at least half full," noting his government had abolished the carbon tax and concluded important free trade deals in 2014.
"I think it has been a year of achievement for our country."
Other conservative commentators have also criticised Mr Abbott recently over the handling of issues like the GP co-payment and ABC funding cuts.
Last month, Andrew Bolt wrote that the Coalition government was making "the same blunders that killed Julia Gillard".
Alan Jones also attacked Mr Abbott on air, arguing that the free trade agreement with China was "failing the pub test".
The Australian's Janet Albrechtson has also slammed the government for playing "condescending word games".
This comes as the Coalition ends the year well behind in the polls, with the most recent Fairfax Ipsos poll putting Labor in front on a two-party-preferred basis, 52 to 48 per cent.
