With many people feeling under increasing pressure, our government needs more money to fund the services and support we all need. Australia's mining industry and big banks are making enormous profits and should contribute more to creating a caring society.

The recent federal budget was a clear demonstration of the contrast between the old parties, which are obsessed with balancing budgets by cutting funding to vital services, and the Greens, which have a vision for a fairer, more caring society.

"The Greens have major concerns with the Rudd government's proposal to cap self education expense deductions to $2,000. This change will require legislation and we would move to send the legislation to a full Senate inquiry," said Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne.

"The Greens are concerned that while the current scheme may need better targeting, the $2,000 cap is a blunt instrument. While rorting from some professions is anecdotally reported, that should not outweigh the concerns of people such as nurses from regional areas trying to get training.

Tasmanians have been left feeling disappointed and excluded from last night's federal budget, the Australian Greens said today.

"Labor has let Tasmanians down with a budget that slashes university funding and renewable energy investment and fails to care for single parents and the unemployed," Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said.

"This budget misses opportunities to fund research and innovation, support small businesses, strengthen the agriculture sector or invest in Hobart light rail.

Mining Tax slumps to $200 million as $1 billion taken from clean energy and the environment and $2.3 billion cut from universities

This is a disappointing Budget that will make Australia weaker, dumber and meaner say the Australian Greens.

Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said this is demonstrated by slashing funding to universities and renewable energy, failing to support single parents and the unemployed and delaying, for the second time, our commitment to increase foreign aid to 0.5 per cent of GNI until 2017.

The Australian Greens won't be supporting legislation to enable cuts to university scholarships mooted in tonight's budget, Leader Christine Milne announced today.

"For a supposedly clever country, slashing universities is just dumb. We are robbing the future if we allow these cuts to go ahead," Senator Milne said.

"We need to support education from early childhood right through to tertiary level if we're going to move away from the cut-it-down, dig-it-up economic approach.

The Grattan Institute report released last night shows that if Australia is to avoid a national revenue crisis the Gillard Government must fix the mining tax immediately and stop handing over billions in fossil fuel subsidies to Australia's biggest and wealthiest mining companies.

Australian Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said the Government retreating from super reform means fixing the mining tax should be the number one priority.

"The Government has disconcerted the whole country with their on and off again super reforms. And now they are still failing to say how Australia's revenue hole will be fixed.

The Australian Greens welcome the establishment of a Senate Inquiry into the mining tax.

"I am pleased that our motion to set up an inquiry into the design of the mining tax won the support of the Coalition and passed the Senate today." Australian Greens leader Senator Christine Milne said today.

"This is a win for transparency, and a win for the community.  It's about time Australians found out why the Gillard Government agreed to a dud mining tax, why the mining tax has failed to raise the billions that were promised, and how to fix it.