By Kerry-Anne Walsh
MALCOLM TURNBULL has left the door ajar for compromise on the $42 billion stimulus package and invited Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to cease hostilities and talk.
The Opposition Leader was joined yesterday by independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who urged Mr Rudd to negotiate with the Opposition before the minor parties.
And the senator, who could make or break the legislation if the stand-off between the major parties continues, said the country's unprecedented economic challenges called for the creation of a cross-party "war cabinet".
Senator Xenophon could be a stumbling block for the Government if it needed to rely on the Greens and two independents - who all have different wish lists - to pass its measures. He said he was spending the weekend deciding whether the entire package was "fundamentally flawed".
Mr Rudd issued a furious warning to Mr Turnbull on Friday to "get out of the road" so the Government could pass the historically unparalleled spending package.
Mr Turnbull told The Sun-Herald yesterday he would be delighted if Mr Rudd offered to sit down and talk so the legislation could pass Parliament this week.
The Government is willing to haggle with the minor parties, but has remained closed to Opposition objections to the package.
The Coalition remains opposed to the $12 billion handout component of the package, which it maintains may not create jobs or stimulate the economy.
But Mr Turnbull left the door ajar for compromise, saying he was "very open-minded about trying to reach an agreement in the national interest. I'm happy to discuss everything with Mr Rudd".
He agreed with spending on infrastructure and schools, and help for small business. The big sticking point was the "reckless" $950 cash payments.
A spokeswoman for Mr Rudd said the Government would negotiate with parties that wanted to support jobs and nation building.
"But we will not negotiate with anyone who wants to see a plan that supports fewer jobs and that will build less nation-building infrastructure," she said.
The package includes $12.2 billion for payments to low- and middle-income earners, $14.7 billion for school upgrades, $6.6 billion for public housing and nearly $4 billion for ceiling insulation in homes.
If the Opposition keeps its position and the Government refuses to negotiate with it, Mr Rudd will need to charm the five Greens, Senator Xenophon and Family First senator Steve Fielding.
Senator Xenophon said he was still assessing whether the package was fundamentally flawed and would raise with Mr Rudd the need to set aside political differences with the Coalition for the national good.
"I would think they would want to work this out with the Opposition before us," he said.
"If Mr Rudd is right that we are in a rolling national crisis, a war-time crisis, the Government needs to take the Opposition, the minor parties and the independents into their confidence. The Government doesn't have a monopoly on wisdom and ideas. There are too many jobs at stake in these dark times. This should be a contest of ideas, not a clash of personalities."
The Greens have indicated they do not want to obstruct passage of the measures, but will haggle for environmentally friendly infrastructure spending.
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has also called for the cash payments to flow to low-income earners and the unemployed.
Senator Fielding wants more money for the low-paid.