Labor plans on ramping up the pressure against the government through the coming budget estimates hearings, with the election campaign’s official start seemingly delayed for another week.

The opposition also plans on taking up Josh Frydenberg’s offer to disclose how much taxpayer funded advertising the government will spend in the coming week, with Labor claiming $600,000 is being spent on government advertising every day.

The delay in calling the election has been criticised by Labor as an opportunity for the government to use taxpayer funds to sell its budget, with the prime minister and key ministers expected to hit marginal electorates and the airwaves with a mini budget roadshow in the coming days.

The Liberals are spending $600,000 a day on tax payer funded ads. Delaying the election a week means more than $4 million of partisan ads funded by the tax payer. Fitting that they end the term with the same arrogant contempt for the taxpayer that has marked their entire term. — Chris Bowen (@Bowenchris) April 6, 2019

Appearing on the ABC Insider’s program, the treasurer did not disclose how much would be spent in the coming days on advertising, but committed to making the information public, eventually.

“We’ll continue to spend on government advertising just like the Labor party spent half a billion dollars on government advertising,” he said.

“…Money is being spent in accordance with approved processes. That’s all transparent. What we won’t do is spend $100,000 like Labor did on three fake kitchens which could have been better spent to people in need.”

Asked for a third time for the figure, Frydenberg said “all that information will be available.”

Chris Bowen labelled the election call extension “in line with the chaos and dysfunction of the last term”.

“A later election date makes more difficult the passage of income tax cuts from 1 July,’ he said.

Bowen said he believes the ATO should be preparing to implement Labor’s planned lower income tax cuts

“If the government supports Labor’s bigger, better and fairer income tax cuts, particularly for those earning below $40,000 then they should make that clear so the ATO can prepare for those to start from 1 July.”

Multiple media outlets, including the Guardian, have confirmed prime minister Scott Morrison has decided against visiting Government House on Sunday, with the election date now more likely to be 18 May.

Once floated as the most likely date, 11 May will be ruled out if the election is not called on Monday, given the 33-day minimum for any campaign. 25 May, a date first reported in the Sunday Telegraph, is also possible, if the electoral commission was given extra resources to count votes ahead of the Senate election deadline.

The Federal Government is spending $4 million this week on government advertising. Josh says they will make the figures available. Release them today. pic.twitter.com/zKRKX5H2Sc — Chris Bowen (@Bowenchris) April 7, 2019

Since January, an independent committee has approved 15 major government advertising campaigns covering energy, health, roads and schools.

On the downside for the government, the Senate is scheduled to continue with budget estimates this week, hearings that could potentially be damaging for the Coalition.

In two days of the last hearings, Labor grabbed the headlines with revelations over the government’s reversal to allow Newstart recipients to receive the energy assistance payment, with officials admitting they only learnt of the about-face through the media.

Staff also admitted they were trying to find out the cost of the measure change while Frydenberg was making his budget speech. It had not been costed in the budget papers.

Penny Wong, who leads Labor’s senate team, said estimates also revealed the environment minister and Liberal Dunkley MP Chris Crewther had announced community grants had been awarded from a program which had not yet opened.

”It’s time for the prime minister to call an election, and give the Australian people the chance to end six years of chaos and division by choosing a Shorten Labor government and a fairer, more equal country where the economy works in the interests of everyone,” she said in a statement.

The delay also opens up the opportunity for Melissa Price to sign off on the Adani groundwater plan, one of the hold ups in the mine breaking ground, which flared as a flashpoint for some Queensland National party-aligned MPs in the last week of parliament.

Despite the delay, Liberal strategists and staff have begun arriving at their campaign headquarters in the inner-city Brisbane suburb of Brisbane, alongside one of the city’s most trafficked roads, while Labor staffers are setting up their base in Parramatta in western Sydney.

Bill Shorten says Labor is ready for whenever Morrison calls the election.

The Labor leader told reporters in Launceston the government had given up governing.

“If the prime minister wants to play games about when he calls the election, I’m just not interested,” the opposition leader said.

Morrison attended an NRL match on Saturday night between the Cronulla Sharks and the Parramatta Eels. He’s also expected to attend church in Sydney on Sunday.

An average of opinion polls puts Labor ahead of the coalition 53-47 on a two-party preferred basis, which would deliver Shorten a comfortable majority.

Half the Senate is up for re-election, with a number of crossbenchers expected to lose their seats while the major parties consolidate their numbers.

Meanwhile, the Liberal National party pre-selected marketing expert Angie Bell as its candidate for the safe Gold Coast seat of Moncrieff, being vacated by former minister Steve Ciobo.

• Additional reporting by Australian Associated Press