Speculation that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will finally call the election in the next couple of days has firmed with confirmation the government's economic statement will be released on Friday.
September 7 is the hot favourite, even though it will mean Mr Rudd won't be able to attend the G20 meeting in Russia.
He had earlier indicated that he wanted the economic statement released before the election.
Two senior ministers on Friday played a straight bat to questions about the election date.
"We are in election season, the election is due, it will be called soon enough. Kevin Rudd will make an announcement after he's spoken to the Governor-General," Treasurer Chris Bowen told the Seven Network.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek would not be drawn on the election date, but said she was happy to start campaigning.
"I'm ready because I love campaigning and we've got a good story to tell," she told the Nine Network.
However, the opposition's Malcolm Turnbull teased he knew when Australians would be voting.
"We were chatting to Kevin earlier and he swore us both to secrecy. He said Tanya, Malcolm, I know you're going on the show but you cannot tell Ben and Georgie when the election is," he joked on the Today show.
