The head of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council, Maurice Newman, has backed the idea of Medicare co-payments.

The Government's Commission of Audit is considering a proposal to impose a $6 co-payment on bulk-billed GP visits.

Health Minister Peter Dutton has previously called for a conversation about the idea, but he will not confirm whether it will be in next month's budget.

Mr Newman has told the ABC's Lateline that the Government only has a limited pool of money and must prioritise how it is spent.

"It doesn't seem to me to be just that if I go to the doctor that my consultation should be free. I should of course make some contribution to that," he said.

"Yes there should be a basic safety net, I don't think anyone would disagree, but my safety net and your safety net are very different things."

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Newman, a former chairman of the ABC, said the Australia Network television contract should never have been put out for tender.

The previous Labor government awarded the contract to the ABC over Sky, after a botched tender process.

Cabinet is reportedly considering scrapping the network in the budget.

Mr Newman says the network is beneficial for Australia and has described Labor's handling of the contract as a tragedy.

"This has left a bad taste in everybody's mouth, and I think the Australia Network, for all the good work it's doing and has done, is suffering the legacy of that flawed process," he said.

Mr Newman also defended Australia's free trade agreement with Japan, describing it as a triumph.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott secured the deal on his recent tour of Asia after more than seven years of negotiations.

The Opposition and some farming groups have been critical, arguing it fell short of what Australia could have achieved.

Mr Newman, who accompanied Mr Abbott on his trip, says you never get everything you want in trade deals.

"I think you've got to ask the question, if we were to have postponed the agreement, what incremental additional benefit would we have received by having waited another year or two years," he said.

"My sense is, and I wasn't involved in the negotiations, but my sense is very little."