There are signs the Turnbull government may be sticking to the scheduled budget day of May 10.
A notice of motion in the Senate on Wednesday shows manager of government business Mitch Fifield will on Thursday move to rearrange Senate business for May 10 to make way for the release of the 2016/17 budget documents.
He's also moving to vary the routine for May 12, allowing party leaders and independent senators to give their response to the budget.
It's understood to be a standard motion moved before a budget and doesn't rule out the possibility of the government handing down the budget in parliament's lower house on May 3.
There's been mounting speculation in recent weeks that the government is considering bringing budget day forward a week, allowing it to clear the decks for an early election.
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Treasurer Scott Morrison and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann have indicated the budget will be delivered as scheduled but others have not been so definite, with Senator Fifield telling ABC Radio on Wednesday May 10 was the "time frame I'm working to".
