The Abbott government has taken its first steps to secure its first budget with the deficit levy passing parliament's lower house.
But while the rise in the top income tax bracket is now expected to pass the Senate with Labor support, the future of the Medicare co-payment and university fee deregulation remains in doubt.
Labor frontbenchers used question time to zero in on the government's decision to allow universities to set their own fees from 2016, which Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said could lead to $100,000 degrees.
Mr Shorten sought a guarantee from Prime Minister Tony Abbott that future scientists would not have student debts of up to $100,000.
Mr Abbott could give no such guarantee.
"But I can give a guarantee that no sensible institution would price itself out of the market," Mr Abbott told parliament.
Responding to a question about whether students would have to choose between buying a house or paying off their degrees, Mr Abbott said they were "more than capable of making decisions based on what is best for them".
The government also faced friendly fire on Wednesday, with Liberal backbencher Dennis Jensen telling reporters some of the budget message had been incoherent.
"We haven't adequately tilled the ground (and) laid out what the problem is," Dr Jensen said.
Parliamentary secretary Josh Frydenberg said there had been some confusion among the public over the budget, but the measures were necessary to cut government debt over time.
The deficit levy imposes a two per cent tax increase on people earning more than $180,000 a year and is projected to raise $3.1 billion over its four-year life.
Health Minister Peter Dutton used a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday to defend the proposed introduction of a $7 co-payment for previously bulk-billed visits to the GP, blood tests and X-rays.
The co-payment faces defeat in the Senate unless the coalition can convince six crossbenchers to support it.
Mr Dutton said the public would understand after a "frank and honest discussion" that bulk-billing would still be available for those who need it most and the system would be shored up in the long-term by those who could afford the co-payment.
State governments have begun thinking about setting up free clinics for services such as vaccinations to offset the impact of the co-payment.
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