A Liberal senator has warned his own government risks making a disastrous error in implementing the unpopular backpacker tax.
Bill Heffernan on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the controversial measure set to slug seasonal fruit and vegetable pickers 32.5 cents from the first dollar they earn.
"This is a strategic error by government - I don't care who the government is," the retiring politician told a Senate committee hearing on Thursday.
"It's a disastrous bloody outcome. We are going to go topsy turvy in the bush and the government, I don't give a rat's arse ... they've got to sort it."
Farmers and the tourism sector are campaigning heavily against the tax which they believe will damage their industries, warning crops will be left unpicked.
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Concern is also growing within both major parties about inaction by the government as a review is still under way.
However, the Turnbull government could be in caretaker mode by the end of the week, limiting any decisions.
Labor senator Glenn Sterle said the tax would kill tourism and demanded to know if Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce had done enough to convince cabinet colleagues it was "one of the dumbest decisions ever to come forward."
Assistant Agriculture Minister Anne Ruston couldn't say when a decision would be made, adding it was a decision for Treasurer Scott Morrison.
