Treasurer Joe Hockey has again called on non-government MPs in the Senate to support the coalition government's budget, otherwise they will be "allowing money to walk out the door".
In an opinion piece in The Australian Financial Review, Mr Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann write it's the Senate's responsibility to support the government's economic plans.
Several budget measures - including a $7 GP co-payment, changes to the dole and a rise in the pension age face defeat - in the Senate, with Labor and the Australian Greens vowing to try to block the measures.
There's also been rumblings from Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer, whose cohort of four senators will hold significant influence from July 1 when the upper house changes over.
Mr Hockey and Mr Cormann said only two past Australian governments had held a majority in both the upper and lower houses.
But "almost every government has been able to pass major elements of its budget".
The opinion piece was peppered with calls for the Senate to work with the government and warned against blocking government plans to scrap the minining and carbon taxes.
"The Senate is allowing money to walk out the door," the ministers said.
The Senate has blocked 13 pieces of legislation, including the mining tax and carbon tax repeal bills, since the Abbott government was elected in September.
Share
