The opposition is predicting "unbelievable numbers" in the federal budget, with savings that are not really there.
The Rudd government will bank $12b from its planned super profits resource tax even though it is talking to mining companies about how the impost will be applied from 2012, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey says.
"I fully expect tomorrow night we will see numbers in the budget that are not real, a resources rent tax that will deliver unbelievable numbers, a budget that claims to have savings, the savings won't be there," he told reporters.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Treasurer Wayne Swan says it will be a "no frills" budget, or even a "boring" budget, while providing reforms for the future.
Mr Hockey said the budget can't be both, "Wayne Swan can't have it both ways," he said.
The government had hoped the global financial crisis would continue as long as possible so that it can keep spending at crisis levels for as long as possible, Mr Hockey said.
"When this government starts using the difficulties in Greece as a justification to spend record amounts of money on stimulus, then we should all be sceptical."
But Mr Hockey said there was one lesson to take away from Greece's problems and that was governments could not continue to ride the debt train.
"The more you are beholden to the debt markets, the less control you have of your budget, it's as simple as that," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had spent the last surplus and the next surplus, Mr Hockey said.
"He's taken money off the states to pay for his health plan, now he wants to put a ball and chain around the legs of the mining industry and smokers to pay for this."
