WHO IS SAYING WHAT ABOUT THE FEDERAL BUDGET:
* "Tonight was Malcolm Turnbull's last chance to fix five years of unfairness - and he failed." - Labor's Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen and Finance spokesman Jim Chalmers.
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* "Rarely do budgets give us such stark choices about what kind of future we want for our country, but this one surely does. We have a clear choice between the Liberals' selfish, dog-eat-dog worldview or a more caring society where we look after each other" - Greens leader Richard Di Natale.
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* "Overall this is a positive budget - but it leaves Australia more exposed than we would like to any deterioration in the global economic environment" - Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO James Pearson.
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* "This evening's budget relies on failed trickle-down economics to trick Australians into giving a failed Government another term in power" - ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.
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* "There are many significant and worthy announcements tonight, but the bigger structural health reform announcements are yet to come" - Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon.
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"It was a dangerous moment in the sense we have a government that is behind in the polls, we're a year out from a federal election and the economy just delivered the budget money, about $35 billion over the next four years. Given that backdrop, the government was pretty restrained." - Deloitte Access Economic economist Chris Richardson.
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* "This budget is the Slurpee budget. We're going to get a sugar high as the windfall spending flows through the economy, but hopefully we avoid the brain freeze." - PwC Australia chief economist Jeremy Thorpe.
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* "Instead of addressing deep-rooted problems that young Australians face, the Liberal government has decided to pork barrel around the issues and offer minor incentives to a small group of students." - National Union of Students president Mark Pace.
