Finding itself hard-up on scouring for resources to finance the gargantuan task of rehabilitating the regions devastated by the recent flooding is Australia, the federal government looks to a possible lift on Medicare levy surcharge so it could fund the massive cost of recovery efforts.

Following weeks of onslaught that practically pushed emergency commonwealth resources to the brink of depletion, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan expressed his openness on the idea of imposing a 1.5 percent increase on Medicare levy, if only to muster the required money that would fuel the government's ensuing responsibility of rebuilding the affected areas hard-hit by the floods.

Swan admitted that a hike on the levy would be a shot-in-the-arm for the national government and should allow it to undertake large-scale infrastructure fixes while at the same time keeping its fiscal policy afloat.

Experts have expressed fears that the recent disaster would leave over-bearing pressure on the Australian economy and the Labor-led government's pledge of budget surplus in 2013 could be placed in a quandary.

However, the federal government remains optimistic on the country's economic prospect as Swan insisted that increasing the Medicare levy represents one of the best-case scenarios drawn by Australian economic policy-makers.

He said that any moves contrary to the plan would only amount to insensitive form of politics, clearly alluding to the opposition pronounced by the Coalition against the Medicare levy plan.

True enough, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey declared on Thursday that the federal government could not count on any legislative support for the planned levy as he told Macquarie Radio that another tax amidst the recent disaster would prove too much for many Australians.

Instead, the Coalition has suggested that other form of levies should be considered such as on insurance policies as Hockey pointed out that the recent events may impact the economy this quarter but subsequent economic activities in the following quarters could result into long-term inflationary pressures and better interest rates, which he noted could serve the economy as "the equivalent of spending another stimulus package."

With that in consideration, Hockey said that the government should stick on its vow to deliver a surplus by 2013, a promise that Finance Minister Penny Wong said is the government's motivation to work hard as she stressed that "the government is committed to assisting with the significant cost of rebuilding following the recent floods, and to bringing the budget to surplus."

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has these thoughts in mind as she and Swan are set to meet some business leaders in a conference set in Brisbane on Monday next week, which intends to explore more effective government response to the flood disaster as well as to gather funds and expertise to be utilised on the federal recovery efforts.