Swan ready for hit from surplus failure Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan expects to take a political hit for not delivering a much-promised surplus in Tuesday's budget, an accounting exercise the opposition has described as 'futile' because the government can't keep its word. But business says it can live with modest deficits for now, and one key independent MP says he is not worried if there is a long term plan to deal with the structural issues of tax reform. Mr Swan's sixth budget is widely expected to show a series of deficits - $10-$20 billion both this and the next financial year - rather than the growing surpluses projected 12 months ago. "I'll take my medicine, I'll accept the politics of this, they are very uncomfortable, but getting the big economic decisions right to support Australian jobs is what people expect of me," he told the Nine Network on Sunday. Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said he did not expect to know the real state of the budget until Treasury and Finance release the pre-election economic and fiscal outlook (PEFO) during the election campaign. "Tuesday night is an exercise in futility because they can't be trusted to tell the truth and they can't be trusted to keep their word," Mr Hockey told Sky News. But Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox said he can live with modest budget deficits for the next four years. "Absolutely, if it's believable, if it's credible," he told ABC Television. He said the business community did not want a "masochistic" austerity package to bring the budget back into surplus now, fearing doing so would impact on growth and jobs. Independent MP Rob Oakeshott is also not too concerned about the lack of surpluses. "Not if we have a strategy in the long term to deal with the structural issues of tax reform that sets us up for the best standard of living for the future," he told the Ten Network. Mr Swan would not rule out further "nasties" in the budget. Already the government has announced an increase in the Medicare levy to help fund disability insurance, a ditching of a proposed increase in the Family Tax Benefit Part A and a deferral of a planned tax cut as part of the carbon tax assistance package. Finance Minister Penny Wong said there would also be $580 million in savings over the forward estimates from efficiencies in the public service. Health Minister Tanya Plibersek also announced an extra $55.7 million to expand the breast cancer screening target group to include women aged 70 to 74, and $18.5 million for three prostate cancer research centres. Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed and increased $1.8 billion for the WestConnex road project in western Sydney, but Mr Hockey said the coalition would "not be adding one dollar more" to its $1.5 billion commitment. He also wants Mr Swan to detail funding of the disability insurance scheme and the education reforms beyond the usual four-year outlook.