Tony Abbott's pick as the head of his Business Advisory Council says Australia faces a collapse in the growth of national income so severe it will feel ''like hitting a brick wall''.

Maurice Newman was until 2012 chairman of the ABC and is a former chairman of the Australian Stock Exchange.

Maurice Newman, Tony Abbott's pick as head of his Business Advisory Council. Credit:Rob Homer

Addressing the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia in Sydney on Monday night, he spoke of losing his ''political virginity'' by throwing his lot in with the Coalition after years having ''voted for and worked for both sides''.

''Openly declaring support for one side before an election shows clearly where your sympathy lies,'' he said. ''However having watched five long years of reckless spending, economic waste, class warfare particularly aimed at business and the mindless destruction of Australia's international competitiveness, I thought I had a civic duty to stand up.''