Tony Abbott has given mixed signals about the prospects of an early election this year, as he defended his government's second budget.
The prime minister visited an auto electrician in Canberra to promote the key plank of the budget - new tax breaks for small business.
The 2015/16 budget, which has largely been positively received for its extra small business and families spending, has been seen as a prelude to an early poll.
Asked to guarantee there'd be no election this year, Mr Abbott said: "I can guarantee the public that we will well and truly and faithfully do what we told them we were going to do at the last election - stop the boats, scrap the carbon tax, build the roads and get the budget under control".
Earlier the prime minister told the Nine Network the election - which is due in September next year - would be "about the middle of next year".
"This government always planned to run full term. That is what the people of Australia elected us to do," Mr Abbott said.
Treasurer Joe Hockey said an early election never featured in the government's pre-budget calculations.
"We never sat down and said let's have an election, never, not once," he told ABC television.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said Labor was ready if an early election was called.
Former prime minister John Howard said the Abbott government had clearly framed its latest budget around political considerations.
"It has certainly been framed by the government with an eye to political sensitivities," he told a budget breakfast in Brisbane.
Mr Abbott defended the turnaround in language on the budget, which last year had been framed around addressing a "budget emergency" and making big cuts to spending over a decade.
"Last year's budget helped to set up this year's budget and this year's budget will help to set up next year's budget," he said.
The government would be making consistent changes to repair the budget while encouraging business confidence.
Share
