Even so, Mr Hockey's sales pitch to the party faithful had a touch of shrillness about it, following dire Fairfax-Nielsen polling showing the Coalition's stocks have plummeted after its first budget.

In a trumpet call to his fellow conservatives, Mr Hockey was animated and at times defensive as he spruiked the logic of his reforms, insisting the budget may not be popular, but it is "right for Australia".

"We didn't go through ... all the dark days of opposition to get back into government and do the things that might please people, that might sound easy on the ear," he said.

"We did it to make a difference for our nation ... to strengthen our economy, to give people hope that tomorrow would be better than today."

Earlier, Mr Turnbull had continued the Coalition's doomsday rhetoric about Australia's economic prospects if government spending is not curbed.