What you said: residents have mixed response to budget speculation

The National Commission of Audit report, released late last week, compounded the situation, but only a small number of its recommendations are expected to be included in this budget.

Here are the views of some residents:

■ Susan Iacovou, of Sans Souci, and Dominique Gregoire, of Caringbah, are both angry Tony Abbott didn't say anything about the planned savage cuts before the election.

The long-time friends, who each have two children aged five and three, said they relied on the family tax benefit.

"Families should be the top priority," Ms Iacovou said.

■ Robert Sabra, of Rockdale, who is a paid carer for his mother, fears his carer's payment will be cut further.

"They reduced it when my wife moved to Australia from Lebanon this year," he said.

"I am not working and I support my wife and son.

"My wife has not been able to get a job yet because she is new to the country."

■ Frank Hecmovic and Steven Jaksic, who were cleaning and painting a picnic shelter at Carss Bush Park, supported the idea of lifting the pension age to 70.

"Being from a migrant background, I think the longer older people keep interacting with society, the better," Mr Hecmovic said.

"We see a lot of people who walk here who say that's virtually all they do in the day."

Both men said there should be consideration of whether a person was physically capable of working until 70.

■ Katherine Parrottino, of Oatley, said she thought the government had "presented the worst-case scenario, and waited to see who was most up-in-arms".

"If you think there is going to be a 9.5 magnitude earthquake and it only turns out to be 5, you think it's not so bad," she said.

"The debt tax could affect us, but it is probably necessary considering [the last Coalition government] had money in the coffers and now we have a big debt."

■ Lucas Brandt, of Oatley, an apprentice electrician, said he would support changes that encouraged young people to find work instead of going on the dole.

"It's too easy to get the free money," he said.

Mr Brandt said he started work at 6.30am each day and knocked off in time to fit in a surf at Cronulla.

■Bill van Brakel, who is an engineer, said that Australia was living beyond its means. "The Labor Party is good at throwing money around but that creates a debt that you have to pay," he said. "People's priorities are wrong — they will buy an iPad instead of buying food to put on the table."

■Kevin Noakes, of Bonnet Bay, who is also an engineer, was concerned that a Medicare co-payment could hit people who are disadvantaged and stop them visiting a doctor. He also questioned why it was necessary for the government to eliminate debt. "We carry debt in our personal economy, with our home mortgage, for instance," he said.

■Maddie Jones, of Gymea, a university student, was opposed to the idea of students being forced to repay their HECS debt sooner. "It is a struggle to repay it at present and when you leave university after four years' of study you are pretty much broke," she said.

■Steve Knight, of Sutherland, a carpet-cleaning contractor, said he was "not a fan of Tony Abbott, but I kind of understand" the decision to lift the age pension. "But they'll need to consider some people physically won't be able to work till that age," he said. He said the government was hyping up the state of the economy and "things are not actually that bad". "The risk is they'll knock public confidence and businesses will suffer."

■Cameron Dee, of Caringbah, an apprentice electrician, agreed with making it harder for young people to get the dole. If they leave school early and can't get a job they should either move to a new area or resume their education, he said. "A lot of young people are taking advantage of the present rules," he said.

■Kyle Hogan, of Grays Point, a university student, didn't think it would be bad if HECS had to be repaid sooner. "It would give a sense of responsibility to students, while helping taxpayers," he said.