Senior ministers rushed to defend the Gillard Government's record on economic management after the latest Newspoll showed Tony Abbott overtaking the Prime Minister on the issue of economic credibility.

Julia Gillard has moved to shift the political conversation to the economy this year, but the Newspoll taken over the weekend shows she has lost significant ground in the area.

Her rating has slipped from 48 points in August to just 34 per cent.

The Opposition Leader's rating on handling the economy has risen from 40 to 43 points over the same time period.

"The numbers I’m interested in are the 700,000 jobs created since we were elected, the 5.2 per cent unemployment rate – exactly half the level in Europe - the 2.7 million small businesses who will get a tax cut due to our mining tax reforms– opposed by the Liberals so they can give Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart a massive tax cut instead - and the $3,000 a year less in mortgage repayments than families are paying now compared to under the Liberals," Treasurer Wayne Swan told ABC News Online.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey is rated one point behind Mr Swan in the Newspoll economic management rankings.

He said he would not comment on polls, but said the Opposition was in tune with voters' worries.

"We've got policies that are about the people," he said.

"We go out there and we speak with people and we understand the pain that Australians are going through with increasing costs of living and a government that is out of touch.

"No amount of spin from this Government or anywhere else is going to make up for the fact that they're making Australians' lives harder and not easier."

But Trade Minister Craig Emerson told Radio National the Opposition was avoiding a debate about the economy with its "relentless negativity".

"We had a week in Parliament when Tony Abbott was channelling Dirty Harry, he said 'make my day' and then for the rest of the week scurried away and embarked on a campaign of smear against the Prime Minister," he said.

"They weren't interested in engaging in this debate because they do know that they have fundamental problems which will become more evident as time goes on - those fundamental problems being a $70 billion hole in the budget, and confusion, a complete fog of confusion, about when or if they would ever return the budget to surplus."

The Government has committed to bringing the budget back into black in 2012/13 and has accused the Opposition of failing to have a consistent plan to do so.

The Labor Party last night released a new online advertising campaign including clips of Coalition MPs giving different positions about whether it can deliver a surplus.

The ads will be posted on YouTube, Twitter, and the ALP website.

Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten continued the attack this morning on ABC Local Radio.

"They're more like a bar scene from Star Wars than an economic alternative." he told ABC Local Radio.

"We are the only party with a plan to build a strong economy with a fair share for all."

The Opposition Leader yesterday promised to deliver a surplus in the first year of a Coalition government.

"Our commitment is to have a budget surplus in year one and subsequently - a budget surplus in year one and subsequently - and we can do that based on current Treasury figures," he told Channel 10.

Last week he said the Coalition would deliver a surplus in its first budget if Labor gets the budget back into surplus in next financial year - something he does not believe will happen.