By political correspondent Emma Griffiths
Video: Watch excerpts from Joe Hockey's speech (Image: AAP: Dan Himbrechts) (ABC News)
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Nearly a month since he handed down his first budget, Treasurer Joe Hockey has sought to "set the facts straight" about contentious measures and tackle widespread accusations that it is unfair.
Mr Hockey has given a speech at the Sydney Institute, defending cuts to government benefits and dramatic changes to higher education and health funding.
The Government is trying to sharpen its sales pitch for the budget following criticism from key stakeholder groups and a significant slump in voter support in recent polls.
Mr Hockey said the "Government is open to criticism and debate about our budget".
"However, we owe it to the community to set the facts straight and articulate the reasoning behind our decisions," he said.
"I want to address the claim head on that the budget is unfair and exacerbates inequality.
Advance Australia where?
"This misguided cry is made on the claim that not everyone is asked to contribute equally and that in the future some people will pay more for government services or receive less in payments."
Labor's attack on the budget has been framed by the argument that it is unfair because the cuts will have a greater impact on low and middle income households than the well-off.
This morning, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will attempt to build on the theme by accusing the Government of winding back measures that would have reaped more tax from big business.
In a speech at the Australian Council of Social Service national conference in Brisbane, Mr Shorten will accuse the Government of weakening rules for profit shifting and "re-opening loopholes" used to minimise corporate tax payments.
"Based on updated estimates from the Parliamentary Budget Office, the revenue gains from Labor's package are now worth over $5.3 billion," Mr Shorten is expected to say.
"But in a clear demonstration of their priorities, the Government has not once, but twice, acted to water down this package, handing back more than $1.1 billion to big businesses.
"This is just one instance, but it goes to the heart of Labor's belief that fairness remains the best and most pragmatic course to prosperity."
Last night, Mr Hockey defended cuts to welfare, which include a freeze on the eligibility threshold for all government payments, tighter rules for the disability support pension, and shunting people under 25 off unemployment benefits to the lower payment of youth allowance.
"Payments are too broadly available to too many people. As a result, less is available for those most in need," he said.
He said working Australians may argue that the system is "already unfair" because so much of their tax goes towards welfare payments.
"The average working Australian, be they a cleaner, a plumber or a teacher, is working over one month full time each year just to pay for the welfare of another Australian," he said.
"Is this fair? In fact, just 2 per cent of taxpayers pay more than a quarter of all income tax.
"Maybe these taxpayers would argue that the tax system is already unfair."
GP fee, university funding changes will boost fairness: Hockey
Mr Hockey also insisted his plan to bring in a $7 fee for GP visits was necessary to prevent a two-tiered health system.
"The publicly funded health system must be sustainable. If it becomes a second-class service then that is unfair," he said.
"By introducing a co-payment for Medicare we are able to build a $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund that in the next decade will double medical research funding in Australia.
"This is fair."
The Treasurer argued the drastic changes to higher education, which would allow universities to set their own fees in the face of a 20 per cent cut in government funding, would also bring more fairness into the system.
Video: Joe Hockey defends budget fairness (Lateline)
"At the moment our higher education system means that the 60 per cent of adult Australians who will never hold a degree are paying for 60 per cent of the degree that others will receive," he said.
The Government has also opened up student loans to TAFEs and colleges, albeit with changes that will make students pay their fees back sooner and at a higher interest rate.
But Mr Hockey says in this regard, too, "fairness is the key".
"Student loans will continue to be made available to students to ensure that they don't pay a dollar upfront, making study more accessible to all regardless of their socio-economic background," he said.
"This is real and meaningful equality of opportunity."
But shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has slammed the speech as a "complete waste of time".
"It was the equivalent of spending 20 minutes trying to convince us that black is in fact white," he told ABC News Online.
"The Australian people are not stupid, they know this budget is unfair."
