Budget faces long-term repair job: PM

Prime Minister Tony Abbott insists the federal budget faces a big repair job after Labor's six-year reform holiday.

"You have got to fix the budget if you are going to fix the economy," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

The Abbott government's first budget on May 13 will be one of long-term structural reform.

While the prime minister would not comment on pre-budget speculation - such as a $6 co-payment for a visit to the doctor and an increase in the pension age to 70 - he did re-commit to promises he made during last year's election campaign.