THE Federal Opposition slammed the budget, which has predicted unemployment in Australia will top 1 million and net debt will hit a record high.
The shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, said two-thirds of the net debt, or $124 billion, was composed of new spending since the last election, and the debt equated to almost $9000 for every Australian.
He ridiculed the plan to return to surplus as "casino economics" and accused the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, of not having the courage to level with the Australian people.
"The budget is a classic tax-and-spend Labor exercise, but on a far more reckless scale than ever seen before," Mr Hockey said.
"The budget delivers a dismal trifecta: record spending (29 per cent of GDP), a record deficit (5 per cent of GDP) and a further severe increase in the jobless rate, to 8.5 per cent.
"Buried in the budget's detail are unrealistic and unachievable economic projections that rely on six successive years of above-trend economic growth and a further three years of trend growth to return to surplus and pay down Labor's record debt.
"The Australian people will pay a high price, in terms of higher future taxes, higher future real interest rates, higher future foreign debt and higher unemployment."
The leader of the Greens, Bob Brown, said the budget was a missed opportunity to transform Australia to a low-carbon economy.
"The Rudd Government is spending almost double the amount of money on coal projects as it is investing in clean, renewable-energy projects.
"A single coal project in the Hunter Valley will receive almost the same amount of money as the entire $1.5 billion solar flagship."
The Family First senator Steve Fielding said "this is an attack on the good old Australian dreams" of home ownership.
The South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon dismissed it as a "Harvey Norman budget … a case of buy now, pay later".
