Joe Hockey: ‘I am in charge of the Budget’

CRITICS say Joe Hockey is being sidelined ahead of the Budget on Tuesday. But the Treasurer insists he’s going to “put it through the posts”.

PM Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey discuss the upcoming budget in the PM's Office at Parliament House in Canberra.

JOE Hockey insists he is in charge of the budget, even though it is the prime minister and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison have announced one of its key components — childcare reform.

The treasurer has brushed off criticism about him being a “phantom treasurer”, saying the budget is his and the government’s property.

He denies he is being overshadowed by Mr Morrison, seen as a future treasurer and even prime minister by many.

“There are people on the sidelines who like to heckle when someone is kicking for goal to try and distract the kicker, but this kicker is going to put it through the posts,” Mr Hockey told the Nine Network today, referring to a column by News Corp journalist Samantha Maiden.

There, there ... Abbott and Hockey during an awkward media call this week.

Cabinet Minister Barnaby Joyce defended the treasurer, saying he’s been out of the spotlight because he’s hard at work.

“I don’t want him cartwheeling around in front of the media, I want him behind his desk,” Mr Joyce told Network Ten.

Even former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello, who has been a critic of the government’s handling of last year’s budget, believes theA coalition has learnt to engage with crossbench senators, giving it more of a chance of getting legislation through parliament.

“I think the sales job in the lead-up to this year’s budget has been much more professional and much better organised,” Mr Costello told Network Ten.

‘Hard at work’ ... Joe Hockey.

People pleaser ... Scott Morrison.

But shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the government has been in “extraordinary retreat” and clearly losing confidence in the treasurer.

He said the first budget smashed confidence, making the transition from the mining boom harder, quelling investment and seeing unemployment rise.

But Mr Hockey compared the tough decisions that needed to be taken by the Abbott government to what British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne went through, before their shock election victory last week.

“The electorate realised that at the end of the day that good policy needs to be implemented and they recognise that it is hard,” he said.