Treasurer Joe Hockey admits the government is "not very good" at negotiating, a key crossbench senator says.
NSW Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm met Mr Hockey in Sydney on Monday to discuss a way forward on a raft of budget measures facing blockage in the Senate.
The first fortnight of the new Senate in early July was chaotic as the federal government dealt with an 18-member crossbench, including 10 Greens, out of which it needs six votes to pass legislation.
Senator Leyonhjelm told AAP after the meeting he got the feeling the 11-month-old government was still getting used to the idea of having to negotiate.
"I pointed out that if the situation was reversed and it was Labor in government needing our votes I would have 25 (ALP senators) new best friends," Senator Leyonhjelm said.
"He laughed at that and said 'that's true. We are not very good at that thing'."
Senator Leyonhjelm said the Liberal Party's attitude was `we've got our policy, we've fought about it amongst ourselves and now we just want to do it and everybody should agree with us'.
"'You will have to change your approach', is what I suggested," he added.
The pair swapped intelligence on where each of the crossbench senators stood on issues.
Senator Leyonhjelm said he had no problem with the depth of the cuts in the budget and believed they should have gone deeper.
"I don't need convincing we have a serious budget problem," he said.
When he suggested to the treasurer the budget was a lot softer than it should have been, Mr Hockey "smiled a little bit because I think he probably agrees with me", the senator said.
The Liberal Democrats have suggested the mining tax legislation be split into spending and revenue bills so debate could be held separately on each measure.
Senator Leyonhjelm said the Palmer United Party, lead by lower house MP Clive Palmer, and the Australian Greens were holding this up.
"It is Clive's tax, he has retained it," the senator said.
The $7 GP co-payment could be made more palatable if it was offset by a cut in the co-payment for pharmaceuticals and the revenue did not go to a medical research fund, he said.
While they did not discuss a delay in the paid parental leave scheme laws, it was discussed in terms of its financial impact, which the treasurer said would be "cost-neutral".
Senator Leyonhjelm believes the money would be better spent on childcare services.
The coalition's Direct Action climate plan appears doomed as well.
All of the crossbenchers who have met the treasurer have been offered briefings by Treasury.
The Liberal Democrats plan to take up a suggestion that they have their key policies costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
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