News Service from House Harris

Fed:Turnbull raises option that could see rebate plan go up in smoke

CANBERRA, May 14 AAP - It was sombre and in keeping with the economic times.

When Malcolm Turnbull got to his feet in the House of Representatives to give his budget address-in-reply on Thursday night, there was none of the showiness for which the former barrister is renowned.

For the man who has had trouble winning over the electorate, the import of the occasion was summed up by one of his early remarks.

"Opportunities can be seized or they can be squandered," Mr Turnbull said.

He was talking about the nation's prosperity but it equally applied to the task presented by his first budget reply as opposition leader.

Quite clearly, he was planning to seize the opportunity.

In his dark suit and blue tie, Mr Turnbull calmly and methodically put his case for why Labor shouldn't be trusted running the economy, throwing in a few new ideas of how he would do it differently.

There were plenty of references to Labor's reckless spending and mountain of debt.

But he had a plan for recovery too.

Some of them were rehashed ideas but there were also some fresh proposals - the creation of a Commissioner for Sustainable Finances to put government spending under the microscope, and the introduction of a Parliamentary Budget Office to analyse fiscal policy.

And he challenged Labor to hike taxes on cigarettes rather than means test the 30 per cent private health insurance rebate.

There might not have been any bells and whistles but the message was clear.

If Labor wants to go to an early election, the coalition is ready and waiting.

Most Liberal senators made the trek from the other chamber to watch the speech. Some sat in guest seats on the floor of the chamber, others were in the public gallery with Lucy Turnbull and crowds of well-dressed Liberals.

One notable absence was Liberal Senate leader Nick Minchin, who, according to his office, decided to watch from his office.

>From the Liberal side there was a standing ovation as Mr Turnbull finished up by telling the Australian public it was only a coalition government that would "restore this great nation to prosperity".

There were cheers, claps and the odd whistle from the gallery.

His colleagues made a beeline to Mr Turnbull to gather around and congratulate him on a job well done.

Well most of them did.

His predecessor, Brendan Nelson, who a year ago was standing at the dispatch box, and former treasurer Peter Costello, who many suspect wants to be standing there soon, didn't find it necessary.

They were too busy chatting and looking otherwise engaged to even exit the same door as Mr Turnbull.

With leadership speculation always set to erupt, that could have been the opportunity squandered.