But Mr Turnbull, in a major policy U-turn in the lead-up to the election, said he wouldn’t support the tax in its current form.
He told Sky News it would “lead to an unnecessary financial hardship”.
“It would raise taxes on everybody, on people working and people who don’t work,” Mr Turnbull said.
“I am for fair taxation, but we don’t need to have some arbitrary level of taxation on work, whether you are working or not.”
Labor’s shadow treasurer Chris Bowen told the election debate that the new levy would see “the poor and middle-income earners hit the hardest” as the top rate of tax rose from 49 to 51 per cent.
He called on the Prime Minister to join in the call for the budget to be reset, in light of the government’s $7 billion budget blow-out.
“I call on this Prime Minister to accept his commitments to the Australian people and reset his budget,” Mr Bowen said.
“This morning we heard Tony Abbott say he is going to review the budget, but the Prime Minister is going to be reviewing this budget and we all know that.”
But Mr Abbott said he would not support any changes to the budget because the government had already made its spending commitments.
“I can’t support any increases in personal taxation,” he said.
“It’s in the budget. It’s a budget that I’ve accepted, a budget that was made when there were four more federal budgets since last year, and I will not introduce changes.”
Mr Turnbull also attacked Labor’s claims that the government was not working to improve the budget.
He said that despite the government’s efforts to cut spending, the deficit had actually grown from $41 billion in 2013-14 to $48 billion in 2014-15.
Mr Bowen hit back, saying that the last government had a $50 billion surplus, not deficit.
“They would have you believe that Tony Abbott and his government are making the big hard decisions but they have cut and torn $14 billion from the public service, they have cut the health budget by over $30 billion, and they have cut the schools budget,” Mr Bowen said.
“These are the decisions that they are making. And I ask this Prime Minister if he stands by those decisions.”
Earlier, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told parliament he would support a review of the budget.
“This morning I was pleased that the Prime Minister committed to the review of the budget,” he said.
“You can see through his budget announcements and it’s clear that there is no plan to cut or freeze spending.
“We have been watching this Prime Minister over the past four years.”
Mr Shorten said the budget has made people poorer and the government has been unwilling to change the current system of taxing people to pay for services.
“This is not a fair and balanced budget, it’s not a budget to help people to lead a life of dignity and purpose,” he said.
“It’s a budget to protect and enrich the privileged few.”
Sorry, this video has expired Bowen blasts Abbott: Budget is not fair or balanced
The Australian National Audit Office recently found a massive increase in Commonwealth red tape and cost as a result of the changes to how the government calculates the budget, which was also revealed in the 2014-15 Budget.
Mr Abbott said he did not accept that the Budget was “a fair and balanced budget”, and that the Government would “not make any changes” to the fiscal statement.
“I don’t accept the idea that this Budget is a fair and balanced budget, I have never accepted that. I don’t think it’s a balanced budget, in fact I think it’s a fair budget, it’s a good budget,” he said.
“But the real question is what is the alternative budget, because that’s what we’re going to have to implement in a couple of months’ time, the real alternative budget.”
He said the Coalition would work with the crossbench on any budget that would keep the nation’s finances “strong and stable”.
Sorry, this video has expired Prime Minister Tony Abbott says budget will deliver better services and lower taxes
The government expects the economy will grow by up to 2.5 per cent this year.
It is forecasting a deficit of $31.2 billion for the current financial year.
Mr Abbott said that would be lower than the $35.8 billion predicted in the budget, but that that would still be a huge number.
“It’s a debt that we should be very cautious about, it’s a debt that we should think hard about. And it’s not a debt to be run into,” he said.
“I think there is a temptation, perhaps, to see the Government’s big debt and a big deficit as a sign of success, but the real success is in the future – getting interest rates down, getting our debt down, and getting back into surplus. That is where success will be found.”
Mr Abbott had promised earlier on Monday that he would give a full defence of the budget, and it appears he has delivered on that promise.
But shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has said the Government’s budget does not protect the most vulnerable.
“This is no budget that’s about the betterment of our society. It’s a budget for a privileged few,” he said.
“The government is spending another $6 billion for a tax cut on the wealthiest two per cent of Australian families and is spending $3.5 billion more on health than it planned.”
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