The era of "Santa Claus" politics is over and all parties need to be serious about economic and budget reform, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says.
His warning follows the federal coalition's challenge to Labor to reveal its alternative policies instead of merely blocking budget measures such as the Medicare changes.
Mr Bowen said on Tuesday the opposition would use 2015 to consult widely on economic and budget policy ahead of the 2016 federal election.
He said voters did no longer believed politicians who made far-fetched pledges about fixing the budget and economy.
"The days of Santa Claus politics, in my view, are over," Mr Bowen told Sky News.
"An opposition pretending they can return to surplus, no hard decisions are necessary, no spending cuts, no new tax rises - that's what Tony Abbott said before the election.
"The Australian people don't believe that any more."
He said Labor would ensure fairness as it sought to balance the budget.
"There will be tough decisions taken which won't be universally popular," he said.
"We won't be rolling into a little ball and pretending that we'll be all things to all people - that's what Tony Abbott does."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Mr Bowen's comments were code for Labor supporting tax rises if elected.
"Here we have finally Labor letting the cat out of the bag," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
Meanwhile, the government announced the tax office would from July 2016 go easy on small business owners who make errors in paying their employees the superannuation guarantee.
Small business operators have been concerned the penalties for employers who inadvertently pay their superannuation guarantee late or short pay their employees' contributions by a small amount are too harsh.
Under the changes, a small amount of interest will accrue from the day after contributions are due, which will stop when the late contributions are paid.
If they remain unpaid, the interest stops on the day the Australian Taxation Office raises an assessment to the employer for payment of the contributions and the interest accrued.
Other changes will be considered as part of the government's tax white paper to be released this year.
Recent research found the average gross tax compliance costs for small and medium businesses were about $11,000 per firm per year.
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