Treasurer Joe Hockey hopes a change in the leadership of the Australian Greens will allow the government to retain indexation of the fuel excise.
Greens leader Christine Milne on Wednesday told her party room she was quitting politics, paving the way for a replacement to be elected about midday (AEST).
The government tried in its first budget last year to bring back regular tax rises on fuel, but was blocked by the Senate.
Instead it temporarily reintroduced the measure through a Customs tariff change which needs parliamentary approval before the end of 2015.
The legislated return of indexation will be included in next Tuesday's budget.
Mr Hockey said he hoped the Greens would see common sense by supporting indexation of the excise, which he thought was in line with its party policy platform.
"I've never understood why the Greens were opposing that policy which we had in last year's budget and we will have in this year's budget," he told reporters in Queanbeyan shortly after the announcement.
Having a strong economy meant the government would have more money to spend on the environment, he said.
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