Budget 2014: PM Tony Abbott reaches out to backbenchers with 'love and reassurance' as finishing touches applied

Updated

Federal Cabinet has met to tick the final boxes and finalise its sales pitch ahead of tonight's budget.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has given his frontbench team the broad picture of the Coalition Government's first defining document, which is touted to include widespread spending cuts to government services and a multi-billion-dollar road-building program.

Hikes to fuel excise and to personal income taxes for high-income-earners are also expected.

Facing accusations that any increase to taxes would amount to a broken election promise, Mr Abbott reassured his ministers that the Government is delivering on its commitments.

He told a meeting of about 200 Coalition staff yesterday that his pledges to "scrap the carbon tax, fix the budget, stop the boats and build the roads of the 21st century" would be met.

"That was our solemn commitment, and the budget will show we are keeping those commitments," Mr Abbott told the staff members, according to a spokesman.

On Monday night, Mr Abbott also had dinner in the Prime Minister's dining room at Parliament House with new Coalition MPs.

The spokesman said the Prime Minister gave the backbenchers some "love and reassurance".

"It can be a pretty nerve-wracking time - your first budget," Mr Abbott said.

The spokesman said the PM assured "them that by the time they get to the next election, there will be a positive story to tell".

A source has told the ABC that Mr Abbott will give his backbench the same message at a party room meeting today, where he will try to quash unrest about some of the budget measures by telling MPs now is not the time for "whinging".

Mr Abbott will tell Coalition members it is "up to them to get out and sell" the budget.

Some of them are predicting it will be hard work.

"This is not a budget that you would create if you wanted to be popular out there in the electorate and think it's going to win over a lot of voters," parliamentary secretary Steven Ciobo told ABC News 24's Capital Hill.

"This is the kind of budget that is necessary by a mature, adult government to start to restore Australia's credibility."

Mr Ciobo also conceded he was not "comfortable" with the idea of raising the Federal Government's tax take from fuel.

"Am I comfortable with speculation around increases in fuel excise? As a Liberal I never want to see taxes going up, ideally," he said.

"But we also need to be realistic about the size of the economic challenge that has been left to us."

MPs, Senators prepare for 'tough sell'

Arriving in Canberra ahead of budget week parliamentary sittings, veteran Nationals Senator Ron Boswell said the budget would be a "hard sell", but said he was up to the job.

"I made my money out of selling - I'm a great salesman," he said.

"First I sold insurance, then I sold garbage bins and paint brushes. I'm sure I can sell the budget."

LNP member Scott Buchholz said "it's going to be a tough sell".

"[The electorate] know it's going to be tough, we said it's going to be tough," he said.

"Everyone's fine for it to be tough as long as it doesn't affect their hip pocket - but I don't think anyone's going to escape."

Treasurer Joe Hockey, who will reveal his first budget to the nation tonight, has released a pre-recorded statement saying it will be a "very important night" for Australia.

"The budget will ask Australians to contribute so that we can build a stronger and more prosperous nation," he said in the video posted on YouTube.

"There will be key initiatives in health, in education, in welfare and in Defence, that will reshape the destiny of the nation."

Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, budget, abbott-tony, tax, business-economics-and-finance, australia

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