Senate powers to block budget legislation

A very detailed article about what's likely to happen in the senate with major parts of the gov's budget. The door is certainly wide open for the senate to block the $7 doctor tax: 

Blocking new or amended schemes or services 

The Senate blocking supply of funding to existing schemes or services is unlikely. But what about where the budget has proposed changes to the scheme or service itself? 

For example, could the Senate block the proposed A$7 GP co-payment or the establishment of the Medical Research Future Fund? These initiatives would require either new legislation or amendments to existing legislation. As such, they would be open to review by the Senate. 

In the case of the proposed co-payment, amendments would presumably need to be made to the Health Insurance Act 1973. When scrutinising normal legislation such as this, the Senate has the same powers as the lower house. 

The new Senate from July 1 

The composition of the Senate is set to change on July 1 this year. This, coupled with the way in which the Constitution requires many of these budget measures to be dealt with in separate pieces of legislation, means that each initiative could receive close scrutiny from the Senate. 

While the Senate is unlikely to block the appropriation bills and prevent the day-to-day running of services, the close scrutiny that other aspects of the budget are likely to receive could stall and frustrate some of the government’s key reforms. more