Budget study based on stereotypes: Hockey

Treasurer Joe Hockey has disputed research showing that Labor party electorates will be worst hit by the budget.

However, he has acknowledged wealthier areas would be better off than poorer parts of the country.

"There are going to be variations," he told ABC Television on Sunday.

"We're reducing government expenditure, and government expenditure is going to be less in higher income areas than it will be in areas that have a lower income."

The University of Canberra's National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) has published figures which show that fifteen of the 16 hardest hit electorates are held by Labor.

Lower income families in Sydney's west and Melbourne's outer north would bear the brunt of the budget cuts, it said.

Mr Hockey said the coalition held a number of seats with lower incomes, and Labor held some seats with higher incomes.

"So frankly the stereotype is easy to create but its not necessarily right," he said.