Peter Dutton dismisses election attacks from Labor as a "sledge-a-thon", while rejecting claims his policies mirrored those of US President Donald Trump.
Launching his campaign in his home city of Brisbane, the opposition leader said the coalition had a positive plan while the government would run a scare campaign for the May 3 election.
When asked if comparisons to Donald Trump by Labor were a compliment or an attack, Mr Dutton said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was pursuing a negative campaign.
"The ads are out there, the sledge-a-thon is on by the prime minister because he doesn't have a good story to tell about his three years in government," he told reporters on Friday.
"You can expect the personal sledges, I am not interested in that. I am interested in our positive plan to help Australians ... deal with the cost-of-living crisis that Labor has created."
Mr Dutton used his address to reiterate policies from his budget reply speech on Thursday, including a halving of the fuel excise for one year, setting up an east coast gas reserve and cutting the migration intake.
He urged voters to think of hip-pocket concerns when casting their ballots, but also backed plans to repeal tax cuts legislated by Labor.
"We have to act responsibly, and we can't pretend that we've got limitless money. Governments only have taxpayers' money. It needs to be spent efficiently," he said.
"We need to provide support, but to do it in a fiscally responsible way.
"Australian families need relief now, and we must do better. And there is a better way, and the coalition has an achievable plan to get our country back on track."
Going into the election, the coalition will need a net gain of 19 seats to form government in their own right.
History is against Mr Dutton, however, with no government being voted out after a single term since 1931.
Mr Dutton also denied he was backing off from a planned nuclear policy, which would see seven reactors built across five states from the mid 2030s.
He said an east coast gas reservation, which would set aside the energy resource for domestic use, would bring immediate power bill relief.
"It's important that we honour our overseas export contracts, but equally, it's important to make sure that we can take care of Australians first, and that's what we'll do," he said.
"We'll lower the prices of gas as a result of that, and not just for households, but for manufacturers and for supermarkets right across the economy, and that will help with the problem of inflation."
