The pandemic is more threatening today than it was one year ago, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared in a private warning to government MPs about continuing the cautious approach to opening international borders.

Mr Morrison told Coalition MPs on Tuesday morning the coronavirus remained a danger to Australia when it was “racing” through countries like India, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned Coalition MPs he will continue to take a cautious approach to reopening international borders.Credit:Kate Geraghty

“He said it is only just getting started in those countries and we cannot sit here and think because we can get 100,000 in the MCG that this pandemic is over,” a Coalition spokesman said of the Prime Minister’s remarks.

The warning was given hours before Treasurer Josh Frydenberg unveils the federal budget and put Coalition MPs on notice to expect a slow timetable to open the international borders next year.

The Coalition spokesman said Mr Morrison told the group the country was still in the middle of a pandemic and could not be complacent.

“He said the pandemic is worse today than it was a year ago. He said that it is more threatening today than it was a year ago,” the spokesman said. “He pointed to the pandemic hitting the developing world. He said it is racing like nothing any of us have seen in our life times.”

The mid-year budget update last December was based on the assumption that Australia would see a gradual return of migrants in “the latter part of 2021” with a recovery in tourism as well.

The timing has slipped to 2022, with Finance Minster Simon Birmingham saying on Monday it would be “probably some distance into next year” rather than the start of the year.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has accused the government of sending conflicting signals about the international border after Mr Morrison did an interview with News Corp newspapers last weekend, in which his comments appeared to suggest he wanted to keep borders closed indefinitely.

Mr Morrison issued a Facebook post on Sunday morning to reject the idea he was seeking zero virus cases before opening borders, while Mr Frydenberg told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age he wanted a return to migration when it was safe to do so.

“The government needs to fix border issues, which it is in charge of,” Mr Albanese said on Monday. “Until we fix up the health issues associated with COVID then there will remain restrictions, including on skilled migration, including on tourism, including on our international education sector.”

Mr Morrison made his remarks to the regular meeting of Coalition party room members in Parliament House on Tuesday morning, knowing they would be briefed to the media afterwards.

MPs did not ask about some of the biggest controversies in recent days, such as the threat of jail terms for Australians returning from India, the pace of the vaccination rollout and the date to be set for the opening of the international border.

Instead, the backbenchers praised Mr Morrison and his ministers ahead of the budget at 7:30pm.

Mr Albanese said on Tuesday morning he would take a “constructive” approach to the budget as long as it could deliver “secure jobs with decent pay”.

“It was Labor who argued for wage subsidies that became JobKeeper. It was Labor, along with the trade union movement, that pointed out there was a problem with no paid pandemic leave,” he told Radio National.

Mr Morrison is trying to present Labor as a party that would keep spending when the recovery was underway.

“Labor knows how to start spending, they don’t know how to stop,” Mr Morrison told the party room. “We know when to get in and we know when to get out.”

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