Liberal and Labor premiers have declared war on the federal government’s $80bn in hospital and school funding cuts, pleading with the nation to rise up in resistance against cutbacks that will result in thousands fewer teachers and hospital beds.



The premiers accused the prime minister, Tony Abbott, of getting his facts completely wrong, after he said of the funding cuts on Sunday: “We’ve got an enormous amount of time to sit down and work things out … we’re not talking about next week, or next month, or even next year.”



The premiers said the federal government’s unilateral termination of scores of national partnership agreements would have a massive immediate impact on state services – including 1,200 hospital beds and $300m in concessions to pensioners and the elderly, starting from 1 July. They demanded an immediate Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting with the prime minister to “sort this mess out”.



A spokeswoman for the prime minister rejected the premiers' demand, saying there would be no special COAG before the next scheduled meeting in September. The prime minister had already had private conversations with most of the premiers, she said.



And the premiers flatly rejected the federal government’s suggestion that they should figure out how to raise taxes to meet the shortfall, including possibly asking for an increase in the goods and services tax.



The Queensland premier, Campbell Newman, said he knew the “federal government wants us to talk about tax increases” but he rejected the strategy, saying: “Sorry, we aren’t going there … the federal government should look at their own inefficiencies and waste … instead of passing $80bn of problems to the states.”



Newman called on voters to lobby the federal government to defeat the cuts and said he had already been lobbying Queensland federal MPs to resist the cutbacks from within the Coalition.



“I would like people to pick up the phone and call your local LNP [Liberal National Party] member and tell them you’re concerned about this … I’ve been ringing and giving a few people an earful because that is how serious this is, and there are federal members who understand how serious this is,” he said.



The South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, said he would be lobbying senators to take up their traditional constitutional role as representatives of the states to reject the cuts.



The revolt by the premiers came as thousands of Australians rallied in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth to protest against the budget, and a reinvigorated Labor party began a television advertising campaign about how ordinary Australians would “pay” for Abbott’s “lies”.



The NSW premier, Mike Baird, said the budget had created “a mess” by trying to pass an $80bn spending cut to the states.



“In simple terms, the cuts that have been put forward we cannot absorb. We can give no clearer message to Canberra: we cannot absorb these cuts; these cuts have an immediate impact – over a thousand hospital beds nationally are impacted by the decisions on health, and this cannot be allowed to proceed,” Baird said.



The Victorian premier, Denis Napthine, said the terminated agreements between the federal and state governments would cost Victoria about $200m from 1 July, on top of the impact of the $80bn cuts in the longer term.



“These are simply unaffordable and unsustainable, and those who will be affected are ordinary Australian families,” Napthine said.



Newman also rejected the idea that the cuts would not affect the states for some time. He listed scores of organisations that would immediately lose federal funding – from the diabetes association, to the heart foundation and the association of tuckshops. He also cited pensioner concessions, aged-care concessions and local government funding, which he said would inevitably result in an increase in rates.



Baird said the long-term impact of the budget cuts was untenable, reducing federal hospital funding from 40% to only 14%.



Wetherill saud: “We are all standing here saying no … we will be campaigning around this. We have a Senate, it’s a states’ house. We’ll be asking them to exercise their responsibilities … because this is unacceptable ...Tony Abbott has united the nation against these cuts.”



The newly elected Tasmanian premier, Will Hodgman, said: “What we are seeing is something that is untenable and unsustainable.”



Labor is attacking the government’s broken pre-election promises. The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said: “I understand that the prime minister said specifically today when it was put to him ... didn't you promise no tax increases, no changes to health and education? What the prime minister said today, I understand, is ... ‘people hear different things’.



“What a cheeky, presumptuous statement by the prime minister of Australia. It is true people heard Tony Abbott say one thing before an election and another thing after an election. But, prime minister, Australians know a lie when they hear one, and you have been the national championship liar of election promises and Australians aren’t going to forget anytime soon, no matter how many weasel words you come up with.”

