Scott Morrison has made a targeted economic pitch to regional and rural voters, while Labor has claimed working families would be better off under its budget plan.
As the prime minister visited regional Queensland on Wednesday, Mr Morrison touted the coalition's partnership with rural areas and what the regions brought to the national economy.
"(Regional) jobs and lifestyles derided or seen as somehow unworthy, in a world where the big talkers all seem to work in government, or finance, or the tech industry or the media," he said.
"That is not the country I know. I believe the vast majority of Australians in our capital cities feel a genuine affinity and connection with the Australian heartland."
It comes as Labor announced its plan for the budget, should the opposition win office.
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the plan would save about $5 billion to the budget bottom line, by carrying out an audit of waste and rorts and cracking down on multinational companies avoiding tax.
"Only Labor has a plan for beyond the election to make sure that there are more opportunities for more people and working families can get ahead in this country," Dr Chalmers told reporters in Canberra.
"Not one cent of the almost $5 billion in budget improvements that we announced today will come at the expense of ordinary Australians."
The announcement coincided with new inflation figures which showed it rising to 5.1 per cent, the highest level in two decades.
Dr Chalmers said the government's handling of the economy had led to record rise.
"Australians are getting absolutely smashed by the rising cost of living on Scott Morrison's watch," he said.
"This is Scott Morrison's triple whammy of skyrocketing cost of living, rising interest rates and falling real wages."
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the large rise in inflation was to do with international factors.
"Australia is not immune from the international pressures driving up inflation. The war in Ukraine has seen a spike in fuel prices, gas prices and commodity prices being felt here at home," he said.
Meanwhile, the government faced internal divisions over climate change, with Nationals senator Matt Canavan saying the coalition's net-zero target was "dead".
Mr Morrison said the coalition was committed to its net-zero policy but as prime minister he needed to bring people together from different perspectives across the country.
"That debate has been done in the coalition and it is resolved and our policy was set out very clearly. (Net zero) has the strong support of the government," he said.
"We did the hard yards to get everyone together and of course, there'll be some who disagreed at the time and I suspect they still will, but that doesn't change the government's policy."
Labor campaign spokesperson Jason Clare said the coalition was at war with itself over climate change.
"Half the Liberal Party, most of the National Party, think climate change is what happens when you go to Hawaii for a holiday. It's time they got real," he told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
It comes as the coalition slightly improves its position in new polling but Labor remains in an election-winning position of 54.5 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
The latest Roy Morgan poll shows the LNP gained a small 0.5 per cent during the second week of the campaign.
