Tony Abbott says you can’t govern with one eye on the opinion polls as Malcolm Turnbull says the budget has gone down well, and has predicted the Coalition will be returned at the next election if the government continues to deliver good outcomes to voters.

In a radio interview on Monday morning, Turnbull said opinion polls taken since last week’s budget indicated last week’s economic statement had won “a big tick of approval”.

Turnbull told the Sydney radio host John Laws the government had “had a very strong budget” that had been fair and well received, and if the government kept working hard “we will be returned in two years time.”

In a separate interview with 2GB, Abbott said the budget, which was the best the government could do in the circumstances, underscored the urgency of Senate reform.

The former PM said the Senate had made the government produce a “taxing budget” rather than a “savings budget”. He said the Senate had shown, in its implacably hostile reaction to his first budget in 2014, that it did not like savings budgets.

“The Senate has become a house of rejection, not a house of review,” Abbott said. “The Senate as it is currently elected has become an absolute obstacle to good government in this country.”

For some months, Abbott has been calling for change to the Senate which would allow the government of the day to put twice rejected bills to a joint sitting of the parliament without the necessity of calling a double-dissolution election.

When asked about the post-budget polls, Abbott observed that it was “important to get the policy right” and the rest would follow. He said governments could not govern with one eye on the opinion polls.

“Frankly the only way to govern is with both eyes fairly and squarely on the national interest,” Abbott said.

Two new opinion polls published Monday indicated the budget had not delivered the government any immediate political dividend.

Both the Newspoll and an Ipsos poll published by Fairfax Media suggest Labor retains a comfortable election-winning lead. Both of the polls have Labor ahead of the government on the two-party preferred measure, 53% to 47%.

In his interview with the John Laws program on Monday morning, Turnbull pointed to positive reactions “beyond the margin of error” to specific budget measures in the new Ipsos poll. The prime minister suggested the positive reception was indicative that the voters were on board.

That poll showed 68% supported the new $6bn budget levy, 61% supported an increase in the Medicare levy to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and 58% supported borrowing to fund infrastructure.

Current indications suggest the government is unlikely to win the necessary Senate support to increase the Medicare levy by 0.5% in lower income brackets.

The proposed Medicare levy increase is the biggest revenue measure in the budget. The government has proposed the tax increase to help fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Labor says it will support a 0.5% rise for people earning $87,000 or more. The Greens are considering a more progressive version of the Labor model. Nick Xenophon has expressed concern about the impact of the tax rise on low income workers.

Labor, the Greens and the NXT also favour extending the current 2% deficit levy for workers earning over $180,000 to help pay for the NDIS.

When asked about the ultimate fate of the Medicare levy on Monday, Turnbull expressed confidence the measure would pass the Senate.

He said the government had thus far managed to persuade the Senate to pass several government policies.

“It is a question of sitting down, respecting the Senators, and negotiating with them one at a time,” the prime minister said.