Tony Abbott is under an election eve attack over an apparent $70 billion black hole in his campaign policies, with the government insisting the opposition would have to ''cut to the bone'' in health and education to keep his promises.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is poised to ask Governor-General Quentin Bryce to clear the way for a September 7 election, with VIP jets in Canberra lined up ready to fly the two party leaders around the nation for a frenzied election campaign.

But on Saturday Mr Rudd said he had been getting on with governing, still had negotiations to conclude with some state governments over education reform and intended to attend the G20 in Russia next month.

"I've made no determination whatsoever in terms of the date of an election," he said. But Mr Rudd filmed a campaign advertisement on Friday and on Saturday appeared in Brisbane alongside Nauru's President Baron Waqa to sign an agreement to bolster Labor's hardline asylum seeker policy, which it hopes will win votes in western Sydney.