Treasurer Scott Morrison insists his first budget is an economic plan and was never about providing a list of "goodies and sweeteners" for the election campaign.
"The country cannot afford that type of budget ... that is what you are seeing from Bill Shorten, he keeps spending and spending and spending with money he doesn't have," Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
His comments came as a new survey by JWS Research found that on a personal level only 17 per cent of Australians though the budget was "good" compared to 37 per cent who thought it was "poor".
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull denied he was talking more about border protection than the budget because the boats turnback issue was more popular amongst voters.
"I've dealt with this issue when it's been raised with me," he told reporters in Sydney.
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He said he was talking about exports, innovation and growth and jobs.
"That is my focus."
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the budget was based on highly questionable assumptions, with the iron ore price having fallen since it was brought down on May 3 while figures released on Wednesday showed wages growth at a record low.
"Their entire budget strategy is based on these forecasts," Mr Bowen told reporters in Sydney.
"(Former prime minister) John Howard used to boast that good economic management led to high real wages growth and this government pretends this is nothing to do with them."
