The budget measures will be used by the government to argue further against Labor's proposed royal commission into the banks and to dampen rumblings among some on the Coalition backbench who are threatening to support a move by the Greens for a commission of inquiry.

"It's important that we deal with these things now. The alternative proposals are to have inquiries which take years and years and years," the Treasurer said.

"We believe in getting on with these things now, there is now need to drag that process out."

The measures will also be part of a budget which will dispense with ideology to put consumers first and seek to neutralise Labor on health, especially Medicare, education and welfare.

There will be changes announced on budget night to improve competition in the finance sector, possibly including superannuation. Mr Morrison hinted strongly the government would implement, among other measures, a so-called open data policy that would give customers power over their own data and enable them to demand their bank send it to a rival in search of a better deal.

Also on budget night, he will launch a Productivity Commission Inquiry into the State of Competition into the Australian Financial System, a measure which stems from David Murray's 2014 Financial System Inquiry.

Even bigger changes could stem from this inquiry, which has broad-ranging terms of reference that are similar to terms of reference being proposed by Labor and the Greens in their respective demands for commissions of inquiry.


Similarly, the Productivity Commission will be expected to consult with regulators and customers as well as the banks.

One of the more contentious terms of reference concerns "the level of contestability and concentration in key segments of the financial system, including the degree of vertical and horizontal integration ... and its implications for competition and consumer outcomes".

This would include addressing the issue of banks having both retail and wealth arms so they can advise people to buy their own financial products, which became an issue in the wake of the financial advice scandals of recent years. Horizontal integration would include looking at mergers and any material anti-competitive effects

The commission will also look at removing innovation barriers to competition, the regulatory regime and the treatment of small and medium business by banks. It will "prioritise any potential policy changes" to which the government is already committed or considering, including recommendations from the recent Carnell inquiry into the treatment of small businesses.

The inquiry will report to the government by July 2018, which will be in the run-up to the federal election, due either late next year or in early 2019.

Mr Morrison said the focus of the budget would be consumers struggling with the cost of living in an era of low wage growth and getting a better deal from banks was part of that.


"One of the things we want to see achieved ... is improved competitiveness in the banking system to ensure than banking customers get the best deal," he said.

The government has already either confirmed, or all but confirmed, a big focus in education through its $18.6 billion, 10-year boost to school funding, a reversal of Medicare cuts in the form of frozen rebates to doctors, and a big spending program on infrastructure, most of which will involve accruing so-called "good debt".

Many of the measures will involve increased spending but Mr Morrison made no apology for the deliberate focus of everyday people. He said the budget would be "a recognition as well that in a very modest wage growth environment, Australians are much more sensitive to both the cost pressures of living and the services that they rely on, which also has an impact on their living standards".

"It isn't about ... previous budgets and ideology and the differences and the politics. It's a pragmatic budget which is focused on what they need," he said.

"They're the ones having to make the choices they have to make to make it all add up for them every day, it's no different if they're an individual or a family or a business or a small business.

"We are very attuned to the pressures they're facing and that's what we've been thinking about first and foremost as we have prepared the budget.

"What Malcolm (Turnbull) and I are trying to demonstrate which is very much our nature, is we're problem solvers, pragmatist. People expect us to deal with what's in front of them and coming down the line and that's exactly what the budget is trying to do, untied to people's expectations about how we should and shouldn't deal with those problems."

Mr Morrison assured all new spending would be accounted for. It is believed the government will use efficiency dividends and a crackdown on the cash economy to claim some revenue back.


It is not known yet whether there will be tax increases but Mr Morrison said the government would not breach the end-of-decade cap of taxes being no more than 23.9 per cent of the economy.

But the Treasurer warned the government was not going into the budget in a stronger-than-anticipated revenue position, even though figures released Friday showed that in the year to the end of March, spending was down $2.5 billion and revenue up $3.4 billion. He said low income tax receipts from low wages growth was countering increased revenue from a high iron ore price and other factors.

"There are two parts to it. There is what we've obviously seen on prices and things like that but equally, wages growth has remained modest and that has a very significant impact on the budget,' he said.

"You can't expect there to be sort of parameter benefits on revenue, no.

"There's swings and roundabouts, I wouldn't read too much into all of that, there are much bigger wheels turning in this budget than those things."

Separately on Sunday, Mr Morrison confirmed pensioners would receive a one-off cash payment before the end of next month to help with winter energy bills as the government honours a deal it struck with senator Nick Xenophon to secure the passage of part of its company tax cut package.

He told the Nine Network the one-off payments of $75 for singles and $125 for couples would be made before June 30, meaning the $260 million hit to the budget would be absorbed this financial year, and not add to the increased spending next year and beyond as the government woos back disaffected voters.

The payments will be made to aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, single parenting payment recipients and veterans and their partners.