Thousands are tipped to hit the streets of Australia’s capital cities on Sunday to protest changes to the budget.

The March Australia budget rallies will be held in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, with a union-organised event planned for Melbourne and other events planned for Hobart and Brisbane.

The group organised the March in March protests, which began as a Facebook conversation between friends and ended up with 45,000 followers.

Victorian Police were caught off guard when 17,000 people turned up to the Melbourne event, with similar events taking place in over 30 other locations.

“Now that the budget has been brought down, we’re expecting some very good attendance” organiser Loz Lawrey said in a statement on Saturday.

“People will certainly have a few things to tell this government, so they’ll be getting their placards out.”

A day after Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was heckled and jostled by protesting Sydney University students, March Australia said their protests were “independent, non-aligned, calm and peaceful”.

Picnics and funny placards are the order of the day, they said.

The marches will take place at the same time all state and territory leaders, with the exception of West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, are expected to hold an emergency meeting in Sydney to discuss the federal government’s $80 billion in cuts to their schools and hospitals over the next 10 years.