Find more savings, Emerson tells Labor

Labor will have to find more spending cuts to find a credible path back to budget surplus, one of its former senior figures warns.

"Just as the coalition cannot fix the budget deficit by solely relying on spending cuts, Labor cannot do so by solely relying on tax increases," Craig Emerson wrote in the Australian Financial Review on Tuesday.

Dr Emerson argues the swinging centre of voters, who will decide a July 2 election, knows governments cannot run deficits forever.