Best day of Joe Hockey's life?

Did Treasurer Joe Hockey have a little too much fun before his wielding his Budget axe against families, students and seniors?

He certainly didn't think so: the Treasurer was surprised to find himself defending the fact that he danced to the American Authors song Best Day of My Life in his office before delivering his brutal budget speech.

"Dancing? ... I think it was more about our little boy was there, I hadn't seen him for three weeks," was his response to the question, posed by veteran journalist Laurie Oakes.

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"But symbolism matters," Mr Oakes pointed out. "They unemployed, the sick, the welfare recipients hit by the budget; they're not going to be dancing, are they?"

Joe Hockey to feature on New Series of Dancing with the Stars. - Following on from what he described as the... http://t.co/T8tZMO9XeX

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"No, Laurie, they're not," the Treasurer responded.

"It won't be the best day of their life. But it is the best day for Australia, because we are actually getting on with the job of building a stronger nation – that's what we're focused on, building a stronger nation."

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On The Today Show, Mr Hockey slammed critics of the incident, decrying the "vicious innuendo" around what he considered an innocent moment with his son.

He also faced a brutal grilling from the ABC's Sarah Ferguson in his first interview, just moments after he delivered the Budget.

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"Is it liberating for a politician to decide election promises don't matter?" Ms Ferguson asked.

Mr Hockey refused to "accept the question".

He was also dragged over the coals for his insistence on referring to the new taxes as "tax adjustments" or "tax changes".

"They're still taxes. I don't need to teach you, Treasurer, what a tax is," Ms Ferguson said.