Both Labor and the Coalition have now released their budget costings and both argue that Australia will only be able to have economic security under them. Amanda Cavill reports.
Turmoil in global financial markets and concerns over the global economic outlook following the UK's vote to leave the EU have both major parties arguing that each is best placed to manage the economy in rocky financial times.
And the decision by Fitch Ratings which has joined Standard & Poor's in cutting Britain's credit rating to AA has both parties warning voters the other party is placing Australia's own credit rating at risk in the future.
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen says Labor would deliver 10.5 billion dollars in budget savings over the next decade.
Mr Bowen says Labor would return the budget to balance at the same time as the Coalition in 2020-21.
But he says his party's deficits would be deeper for the first four years, mainly because of Labor's extra spending on Medicare, education and infrastructure.
Mr Bowen says the alternative to Labor's plan would be spending cuts to essential services and could damage Australia's AAA credit rating.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says it's Labor's plan that could be a threat to Australia's credit rating.
"Can you imagine in this environment, in this uncertain environment globally, where Britain has just been downgraded from AAA to AA status, following on the vote to leave the European Union. In that environment, an Opposition is proposing to run higher debt, more deficits and higher taxes on investment when clearly what we need, now more than ever, is prudent economic management, living within our means and encouraging investment."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the government is wrong and the rating would not be at greater risk under Labor than the Coalition - denying similar assertions by economist Saul Eslake.
"I don't think that's right, that's the fact of the matter. The only party who has had the AAA credit rating critiqued is the Government. The credit rating agencies came out and said this Government, by the fact of its economic policies is endangering or undermining the stability and uncertainty. It's risking the AAA credit rating. That's the fact of the matter."
The Government says its budget costings show that only it is able to steer Australia in times of financial instability.
The Coalition says its election costings will improve the budget deficit announced in May by 1.1 billion dollars over four years.
Treasurer Scott Morrison says the Government's 1.2 billion dollars' worth of election promises will be funded by making 2 billion dollars in targeted cuts to improve the administration and efficiency of the entire social welfare system.
Mr Morrison says there are four components to this.
These include automating and streamlining existing compliance activities and more frequent and stringent reporting, as well as the recovery of welfare over-payments worth 3.5 billion dollars.
Welfare recipients who owe money will be targeted under data-matching technology.
Mr Morrison says these measures will ensure that Australia is well equipped to deal with any financial shocks it may encounter.
"We live within our means because it means our budget can then be sustainable and can be affordable. A spend now and pay later approached is no way to run the nation's finances. Especially now at this time of uncertainty globally and volatility that is out there. Ensuring stability at a time of great instability is what is needed so Australians can get on with things."
But Labor is defending its plan to hit larger deficits than the government over the short term.
Opposition Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen says the only difference between his figures and Mr Morrison's budget plan is that Labor is prepared to be honest about the deficit.
"The next Treasurer of Australia - delivering the next budget - whether it is me or Scott Morrison will be revealing next year a bigger deficit. The difference is that I'm prepared to say so - he is prepared to be dishonest about it. He has right through his budget projections a series of measures still in the 2014 budget which are fundamentally unfair and will never pass the parliament and at some point he's going to have to admit that."
