Future small business owners are being promised good economic conditions to set up shop, as the prime minister continues to play up the government's fiscal credentials.
But Labor leader Anthony Albanese is pitching an economy built on clean energy jobs as part of the opposition's commitment to a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.
Scott Morrison says 400,000 new small businesses will be created over the next five years if his Liberal-National government is returned at the May 21 election.
But he did not have the "magical" ability to lift wages and lower cost of living.
"I don't believe I have a magic pen that makes wages go up or makes prices go down," he told reporters while campaigning in the western Sydney electorate of Parramatta on Thursday.
"Anthony Albanese is walking around in this election, pretending that he has some special magical powers to make wages go up and costs go down, and as prime minister, you don't have that. I know, I've been in the job."
Yet Labor says the prime minister's small business pledge is not as ambitious a promise as he is trying to claim.
As part of Labor's powering Australia plan, more than 600,000 new jobs will be created by 2030 and five out of six jobs will be in regional Australia.
"Climate change represents a jobs and economic growth opportunity for Australia," Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney.
"Only Labor can end the climate wars and what we need is to do just that so businesses can have the certainty to invest confidently going forward."
The coalition is offering lower taxes, less red tape and energy efficiency to encourage more small businesses to set up shop, building on its efforts to support a similar number in the past five years.
"There's been 400,000 (small businesses) created over the last five years and we believe with the same plan ... we will see over the next five years another 400,000 of these small and family businesses created in this economy," Mr Morrison said.
"The energy and drive which has got us through this pandemic, which we've backed in as a government and which will ensure the Australian economy continues to create the jobs."
ABS data shows 365,480 new businesses were created in 2020 and 2021, indicating the prime minister's target would require a less than 10 per cent lift in numbers.
Additionally, while 128,000 new businesses started up in last year's December quarter, 116,000 closed up shop.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader will make his election pitch to industry leaders in a speech to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stressing the need for economic reform.
"A country cannot keep drawing from an old well, because the well eventually dries out," he will say.
"Australia needs a new playbook to seize the future."
Among the measures Mr Albanese proposes is universal childcare, which he says will support workforce participation.
Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates for the first time in almost 12 years, taking the cash rate from 0.1 per cent to 0.35 per cent.
The rate hike has put cost of living pressures at the centre of the election campaign, with both leaders claiming they would be better at managing the financial squeeze being felt by Australian households.
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