Tony Abbott has used an opinion piece in a major Indonesian newspaper to issue a rallying call to G20 leaders to implement structural economic reforms.
On the eve of a leaders' summit in Brisbane, the prime minister warned the world's largest economies they could not allow recovery from the global financial crisis to stall.
The clear challenge was to lift growth, boost jobs and strengthen financial resilience, Mr Abbott wrote in the Jakarta Post on Friday.
"We need to encourage demand to ward off the deflation that threatens the major economies of Europe."
That meant creating the right conditions for the private sector to succeed.
It also meant having the willingness to use investment in infrastructure to boost growth.
Mr Abbott said global economies were still struggling with the legacy of debt and joblessness from the GFC.
"Now is the time to draw a line under the global financial crisis," he wrote.
