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John Howard believes the latest polling is understating the Liberal-Nationals coalition vote ahead of the May 21 election.

But the former Liberal prime minister admits the election will be "very tight".

A poll conducted by YouGov for The Australian predicts Labor would win government with 80 seats in the lower house, leaving the coalition with 63 seats and an eight-member cross bench.

"It has understated the coalition vote," Mr Howard told the Nine Network on Thursday.

"But it will be very tight. Anybody with any brain on our side will recognise that."

Mr Howard, the host of a new documentary about Sir Robert Menzies - who served as prime minister between 1939 and 1941, and again from 1949 to 1966 - said a lot of the fundamentals of government had not changed since that era.

"People still want the country's economy well managed, they still want strong national defences," he said

"People ... want somebody there who knows how to run things, economically, and they do want somebody there who knows what we need to do to defend ourselves."

His comments came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Launceston Head To Health facility in the northern Tasmanian seat of Bass, with Liberal MP Bridget Archer who holds the seat by a 0.4 per cent margin.

Mr Morrison announced more than $55 million will go to mental health and suicide prevention support and services in the state over the next five years.

Ms Archer became tearful when describing how much the funding meant to her and shared touching details of her own experiences.

She said improving mental health services was one of the reasons she entered politics.

"I have suffered from poor mental health a lot of my life," she said.

"I've unfortunate personal experience with suicide, of losing my stepsister to suicide, and I've seen the impact suicide has had on small communities like mine across Tasmania.

"If we can stop one person from taking their life, then these services will be worth it."

The Morrison government will spend $45.6 million, with the Tasmanian government providing $9.4 million in-kind.

The bulk of the funding will go to three new Head To Health satellite clinics in Burnie, Devonport and Outer Hobart, with ongoing funding for the state's first Head to Health centre in Launceston.

There will also be funding for children's services and three eating disorder day programs.

Mr Morrison said an agreement with the state government would ensure Tasmanians had access to more support, when and where they needed it.

It is estimated the federal health department will spend $6.8 billion on mental health and suicide prevention services and support in 2022/23.

Later, the prime minister visited the Beauty Point Bowls club -north of Launceston to commit $180,000 for an upgrade under an election pledge.

He played bowls with community member Bruce Howard.

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The Morrison government, Labor, business groups and trade unions continue to clash over how much minimum-wage workers should be paid from July.

The debate comes as a two-decade-high inflation rate of 5.1 per cent increases cost-of-living pressures on Australians.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions wants the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum hourly rate by 5.5 per cent to $21.35 while business proposes a three per cent lift.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus warned of more industrial action if employers refuse to increase wages amid rising profits and the highest start-up and survival rates in a decade.

"Businesses are not just recovering, they are recovering very well," she told ABC radio on Thursday.

"The bigger risk is that a whole heap of people ... one in four people on the minimum wage ... their real wages go backwards.

"If employers continue to insist on real wage cuts for workers, and through negotiations they don't move off that, that's what brings about strikes. People go on strike when they have no other option."

But the head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the cost of doing business has also increased, citing Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

"We've seen in the last three months ... that three out of five businesses have been facing a surge in costs," Andrew McKellar told the ABC.

"So businesses are facing a very tough time at the moment."

Labor leader Anthony Albanese is backing a 5.1 per cent increase, but stopped short of saying he would push for that in a submission to the commission.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also backed a wage rise - although he will not put a figure on it - but warned small businesses would struggle with an increase.

"People won't be worrying about what their wages are, they will be worrying about whether they have a job," he said.

Labor's campaign spokesman Jason Clare accused the prime minister of being out of touch with the reality of living costs.

"I say to Scott Morrison, you've got a screw loose if you don't think people are struggling to pay the bills at the moment," he said.

"This is not the difference of whether the kids go on an excursion, it's whether they've got a roof over their head, whether you pay the bills or not."

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg labelled Labor's pledge as "flippant".

It has also been criticised by economists, former treasury officials and the major banks.

"They have a bird's eye view of what's occurring across the economy," Mr Frydenberg said.

"They could see Anthony Albanese's thought bubble would have many other consequences, including for higher inflation, higher interest rates, and ... the loss of jobs," he said.

"(He) seems to want to run a $2.1 trillion economy from one press conference to another."

Mr Frydenberg faces a more personal battle in his inner-Melbourne seat of Kooyong, with a YouGov poll published in The Australian predicting he would lose out to independent Monique Ryan on Saturday week.

His Liberal colleague Tim Wilson would also lose his seat of Goldstein to independent Zoe Daniels, while Reid, Bennelong and Robertson in NSW, Corangamite and Chisholm in Victoria, Brisbane in Queensland, Boothby in South Australia and Bass in Tasmania would likely flip to Labor.

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Scott Morrison has hit out at the federal opposition's minimum wage rise push, as Anthony Albanese flagged a Labor government would take its time to draft its submission to the industrial umpire.

Mr Albanese said he would support a 5.1 per cent wage increase in line with the highest inflation figure in two decades, but indicated the mechanism by which a Labor government would seek the rise would be determined in coming weeks.

The prime minister branded Mr Albanese's statement as "reckless".

"We all want to see wages increase but I don't want to see reckless behaviour in how the process should work and this is where Mr Albanese has failed," he told reporters in Tasmania.

"He knows he got that wrong. He knows he acted recklessly, and he's been trying to cover his tracks ever since."

Mr Morrison has not put a figure on what an appropriate wage rise would be, but warned a rise and its flow-through effect on other wages could trigger higher inflation.

"Any potential support you might have got in wages would be clawed back in even higher interest rates and even higher inflation," he said.

"That's not how you manage an economy."

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the independent umpire would make its decision with a complete understanding of the economic consequences.

"When it comes to the Labor Party's commitment to a 5.1 per cent increase in wages, it was a thought bubble," he said.

"It goes against the practice of both sides of politics to leave these decisions to the independent Fair Work Commission."

Mr Albanese hit back, saying his message had been consistent in that he supports a real wage increase and the government couldn't go over the top of the commission.

"There is a cost of living of everything is going up except for wages. The idea that we would support a real wage cut for people on the minimum wage is an extraordinary claim," he told reporters in Gladstone.

"What I have said consistently ... is if the Fair Work Commission, that operates independently of government, makes a decision to not cut real wages and keep up with the cost of living, that's something that I would welcome."

Mr Albanese accused the government of constantly spruiking a strong economy, but acting as if "the sky is falling in" when Labor supports a $1 an hour increase to the minimum wage.

He said a Labor government would have until June 7 to draft a comprehensive submission to the industrial umpire.

Labor's campaign spokesman Jason Clare accused the prime minister of being out of touch with the reality of living costs.

"I say to Scott Morrison, you've got a screw loose if you don't think people are struggling to pay the bills at the moment," he said.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions wants the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum hourly rate by 5.5 per cent to $21.35 while business proposes a three per cent lift.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus warned of more industrial action if employers refuse to increase wages amid rising profits and the highest start-up and survival rates in a decade.

"Businesses are not just recovering, they are recovering very well," she told ABC radio on Thursday.

"If employers continue to insist on real wage cuts for workers, and through negotiations they don't move off that, that's what brings about strikes. People go on strike when they have no other option."

But the head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the cost of doing business has also increased, citing Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

"We've seen in the last three months ... that three out of five businesses have been facing a surge in costs," Andrew McKellar told the ABC.

"So businesses are facing a very tough time at the moment."

© AAP 2022