ACCI tells Rudd, Abbott to lift their game

AS the election campaign passes the halfway mark, a leading business group has told both major political leaders to lift their game on the economy.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott promised the economy would be at the heart of their election pitches.

"I'm looking for a coherent set of policies, not just an announcement of some spending initiatives here and there," chief executive Peter Anderson told reporters in Canberra.

The chamber has proposed a priority reform agenda for the next federal government.

Whoever wins on September 7, the goal must be to get the budget back under control and spell out a clear pathway back to surplus, alongside a root and branch review of government spending.

Taxation reform should also include the GST, although Mr Anderson said this was not a "green light" to either to increase the rate of the impost or broaden its base.

"We are actually looking at the Australian government to repair its finances so that taxes in Australia can be lower," he said.

Treasurer Chris Bowen insists Labor already has a pathway to restore the budget surplus.

"By returning to surplus in 2016/17 against declining terms of trade, declining growth in government revenue, that's an improvement in the structure of the budget," he told reporters in Melbourne.

Mr Abbott also believes the coalition has the policies to build a stronger economy.

"If we get the economic fundamentals right, then we give our businesses generally, including our manufacturers, the best opportunity to invest, to employ, to compete to innovate and to succeed," he told reporters in Brisbane.

However, Mr Anderson is not impressed with Mr Abbott's $5.5 billion a year paid parental leave scheme, describing it as "excessive".

"We do think that Mr Abbott ought to have taken the opportunity of the deteriorating budget position, which has alarmingly deteriorated over recent months, to pare back what is an excessive scheme," he added.

New data suggests the winning political party will face a slowing economy.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index of economic activity indicates the likely pace of economic growth in three to nine months time.

The June reading points to an annualised growth rate of 3.6 per cent - a seven-month low.

While this is above the index's long-term trend of 2.9 per cent, it's below a recent peak of 5.3 per cent.

Furthermore, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans expects the June quarter national accounts on September 4 won't be overly positive.

There was brighter news on the employment front, with job advertisements on the internet rising by a seasonally adjusted 5.4 per cent in July.

However, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations warned this could be the impact of the MyCareer website moving to free job advertising from July 1.

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