AAP
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the coalition party room has yet to decide whether to vote against the Schoolkids Bonus in the federal budget.
The federal government on Wednesday introduced legislation to provide eligible families with $410 a year for primary school children and $820 a year for secondary students.
Opposition families spokesman Kevin Andrews told parliament the bill would be opposed and shadow treasurer Joe Hockey repeated it as fact in media interviews.
But Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra that the bill had yet to be taken through "the ordinary party room processes".
However, he said it was the coalition's "disposition" to oppose it.
"That's certainly our disposition ... not to support something which is not fair dinkum which isn't honest about its purpose," he said after meeting with a mothers' group at a Canberra house.
"Our disposition is to support some of the other benefits to families because ... families are going to be clobbered by the carbon tax in a few weeks' time and we do feel their pain."
Mr Abbott also took aim at the government's move to lift the debt ceiling to $300 billion.
"Wayne Swan has extended Labor's credit card limit by $50 billion," he said.
