Opposition wants speed limits on taxing and spending

Delivering a post-budget speech, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said Labor had abandoned the "fiscal guardrails" put in place by the coalition government.

He promised to restore the 23.9 per cent tax-to-GDP ratio if elected to government, as well as introduce a rule to ensure the economy was growing faster than spending.

"The structural deficit is growing, leaving Australia vulnerable to future financial shocks," he said at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

The nation's ailing productivity performance would also be a top economic priority.

"Labor has all but given up on productivity reform, with its revised assumption of 1.2 per cent average growth looking heroic against the experience of the last two years."

Kickstarting productivity growth was key to unlocking higher wages without pushing up inflation, he said.

The federal government's workplace reforms were "making a bad situation worse", Mr Taylor said.

The opposition has already committed to overturning changes to the definition of a casual employee, which the shadow treasurer says is just the beginning of his plan to kickstart productivity.

Australian Associated Press