Federal Budget 2014: Tony Abbott says it will pass in the Senate

TONY Abbott said job seekers “have no right to hold out for the job of their dreams”, while he still believes his unpopular budget will pass the Senate.

24/05/ 14 - Prime Minister Tony Abbott is visits the Traffic Management Centre, The Parade, Norwood, Adelaide. Picture Tom Huntley

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott denies he’s facing internal party backlash on his budget and won’t surrender it in the face of pressure to compromise over its most unpopular measures.

Mr Abbott is confident the coalition’s first budget will pass the Senate because the alternative would be a double dissolution election.

Senior government ministers have signalled compromising on key budget reforms such as higher education interest rates and the GP co-payment, amid a fierce public backlash and a hostile Senate.

Continuing the budget sell today, Mr Abbott said his team “absolutely” understood the “iron necessity” of sticking with difficult and unpopular budget measures.

“We are not going to surrender our budget commitments,” Mr Abbott told reporters in Adelaide.

But negotiations were inevitable.

“You have got to negotiate your legislation through the parliament,” he said.

Mr Abbott was confident that the government would get the budget through the Senate in the end, because the alternative would be a double dissolution election.

“Because let’s face it, there have been many governments over many years that have had to negotiate budgets through the Senate.

Tough sell ... Prime Minister Tony Abbott visits the Traffic Management Centre in Adelaide today. Picture: Tom Huntley

“The only time that wasn’t successfully done ... that was a different bill in 1975.” Last week, Mr Abbott appeared to back away from a threat to hold a double dissolution election after earlier signalling incoming Senate crossbenchers would be unlikely to keep their seats if there was a new election.

Labor, the Greens and Palmer United Party have vowed to block changes such as the Medicare co-payment and pension cuts.

Mr Abbott also said job seekers on unemployment benefits have no right to reject work just because they can’t find their dream job.

Thousands of unemployed people under 30 will be forced to work for the dole from 2015 under the government’s tough budget measures.

TITLE: NND MultiPromo Budget 2014 At A Glance

They will also be required to wait at least six months before getting welfare.

Mr Abbott said job seekers should not have the option of rejecting available jobs, because the alternative would be a life on welfare.

“People have no right to hold out for the job of their dreams while they are on unemployment benefits,” he told reporters in Adelaide.

He said they have to accept any job they can reasonably do that is offered to them.

“Frankly, that is the least that people should be prepared to do under those circumstances.” Welfare groups have raised concerns about the tough earn-or-learn measures, warning young people would resort to petty crime or end up living on the streets with the tightening of welfare.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who has faced a slew of student protests this week over university deregulation measures, has signalled compromising on some reforms.

He said it was in recognition the government did not have a majority in the upper house.

“We will of course seek to consult and negotiate with the minor parties and the crossbenches to ensure these important reforms are delivered,” Mr Pyne said in a statement to AAP.

The industry is also being consulted to “refine the details” of the changes, with two higher education stakeholder working groups providing feedback.

TITLE: NND MultiPromo Budget 2014 Whats in it

Opposition finance spokesman Tony Burke said the government’s willingness to compromise showed it was in disarray and its budget unravelling.

If any measures change in the parliamentary process, Labor will apply the same “tests” to vote them down in the way it’s opposing changes affecting pensioners, university students, Medicare, and fuel and cost-of-living prices.

“If they want to keep changing the budget because they’re in disarray and chaos, we will keep applying the same principles,” Mr Burke told reporters in Sydney.

Meanwhile, the Australian Medical Association is set to hold urgent talks with Health Minister Peter Dutton to seek a compromise on all medical co-payments flagged in the budget.

A vote was passed at the group’s national conference on Saturday to push to have the payment targeted at higher-income earners. The group is concerned co-payments will hit vulnerable groups hard and add pressure on hospitals.

“The health minister has made it clear he wants to engage with the profession about the future of the health system,” president Steve Hambleton said in a statement.

“The AMA is well-positioned to help the government design a fairer and more equitable model.”

Originally published as Federal Budget 2014: Tony Abbott says it will pass in the Senate