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The polls have Labor in front, but Saturday's South Australian election is far from a done deal as the Liberals bid to defy the pundits and retain power.

After governing for 16 of the past 20 years, Labor needs to pick up at least five seats to end the one-term government of Premier Steven Marshall.

It can do that with a swing of a little more than two per cent, but questions remain over whether the swing will come in the right places.

A shift to pre-poll and postal ballots has also muddied the waters.

Among SA's 1.2 million registered voters, more than 170,000 have cast an early ballot while another 133,000 have applied for a postal vote.

Several thousand more will vote by post after testing positive for COVID-19 or being forced into isolation late this week as close contacts.

There's also six independents vying for re-election, including three who left the Liberal Party to sit on the crossbench.

Their fate could be crucial to the final result, with government potentially going to whichever of the major parties can successfully broker a deal for minority rule.

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas has focused heavily on health throughout the election campaign, promising to spend big to fix an ailing system plagued by ambulance ramping and overloaded hospitals.

But that has allowed Mr Marshall and his team to mount a sustained attack on Labor's big spending promises, warning of higher taxes and charges if the opposition wins.

Both leaders were back on the streets on Friday in a final pitch for votes.

Despite trailing in opinion polls, the premier said he believed the government could win.

"The people of SA know that under a Liberal government you are always going to have a stronger economy, stronger finances, and that is good for families," he said.

Mr Malinauskas gathered with hospital and ambulance staff as he declared "this election is a health election".

"This election is an opportunity to get our health system back on track with a considered plan, a fully funded plan," he said.

If the government falls, it will be the first in Australia to suffer such a fate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though it's unclear just how much SA's handling of the virus will sway voters.

The state did well in the early stages of the pandemic but the government later came in for criticism, at times for maintaining local restrictions, and then for opening SA's borders as the Omicron wave hit.

The polls open at 8am on Saturday and close at 6pm, with the SA Electoral Commission warning a result may not be known for several days.

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Drug giant Pfizer has agreed to step up collaborations with Victorian medical researchers on developing mRNA technology.

Pfizer's Comirnaty vaccine, among the earliest approved for use against COVID-19, is based on mRNA.

These types of vaccines teach the body's cells to make a protein that will trigger an immune response, preparing the immune system for any exposure to a virus.

A first step in joint efforts between the government's mRNA Victoria and the global biopharmaceutical company is an international symposium presenting Australian mRNA research.

Minister for Innovation Jaala Pulford, who is currently touring Pfizer's facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said increasing collaboration should deliver job opportunities.

"This agreement with one of the world's leading biopharmaceutical companies is a strong endorsement of the strength of Victoria's research and development community and recognises our status as one of the world leaders in this field," she said in a statement.

Clinical trials for a locally developed and manufactured COVID-19 vaccine are already being funded by mRNA Victoria and are expected to be available in the first half of 2022.

In December, another drug company Moderna agreed to base new research and manufacturing facilities in the state.

It comes as the government pushes for people to line up for a third COVID-19 vaccination - so far 63.1 per cent of Victorians aged 18 and over have had three doses.

On Friday, the state registered another 9036 COVID-19 infections and nine deaths.

Of those infected, 199 are in hospital, with 23 in intensive care and five on ventilators.

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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal budget will deliver "targeted" cost-of-living relief for Australians while setting a path to balancing the government's books.

Mr Frydenberg says the budget will reveal a trajectory where debt compared to the size of the economy will peak lower and earlier than initially thought in December 2021.

But the treasurer remained coy about measures in the budget that will help ease the cost of living as petrol prices soar and the price of everyday goods rise.

"What we are seeking to do is ... reduce those cost of living pressures by putting more money into people's pockets," he said.

Mr Frydenberg told an Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry forum that apart from "targeted and proportionate" help for families in the budget, the government had already cut power bills by eight per cent in the past two years, rolled out $30 billion in income tax cuts and provided $10 billion a year in childcare support.

But shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says the federal government cannot be trusted on what it says about the economy.

Dr Chalmers says the March 29 economic blueprint on the eve on an election is "showing all the signs of another budget full of secret slush funds before the election and secret cuts after".

"This coalition government has barely anything to show for the record debt they had already multiplied even before the pandemic," he said.

"After a decade of marketing and mismanagement, the dividend for Australians is skyrocketing costs of living, falling real wages, and families falling further behind."

Mr Frydenberg told the ABC he wanted to see wages rise, but the government would not be "taking a side" when it came to wage cases being taken to the industrial umpire.

"The best way to create higher wages is through a tighter labour market," he said.

Full employment was in sight, with the latest data showing a four per cent unemployment rate for February, he added in his business speech.

The budget papers will show gross debt as a proportion of GDP will peak lower and earlier than forecast in the mid-year review published in December, declining over the medium term.

"This is the fiscal dividend of a strong economy," he said.

Mr Frydenberg said economic support rolled out during the COVID-19 pandemic could not go on, with continued funding actually doing more harm than good.

"It would risk putting further pressure on inflation, interest rates and cost of living," he said.

The budget will continue the government's conservative set of commodity price assumptions, notwithstanding iron ore prices sitting around $130 a tonne, thermal coal at a record $385 a tonne and metallurgical coal at a record $660 a tonne.

The government will also be sticking with its tax-to-GDP cap of 23.9 per cent.

"This imposes a discipline on the expenditure side of the budget and is consistent with the coalition's values of cutting taxes, not increasing them, enabling Australians to keep more of what they earn," Mr Frydenberg said.

Controlling spending growth while delivering essential services such as health and disability support will be a difficult balancing act for the government.

This would involve looking at the "efficiency and quality of government spending", Mr Frydenberg said.

He pledged the government would not be "baking in" any new structural spending off the back of temporary revenue increases.

Mr Frydenberg is giving little away in terms of where salaries are heading, pointing to the mid-year review showing an upgrade of wages each year over the next four years and the national accounts showing average earnings up 3.4 per cent through the year.

In its latest pre-budget announcement, the federal government set aside $104 million funding package over the next five years to prevent technology and devices being used to perpetrate or facilitate family, domestic and sexual violence.

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Targeted and proportionate relief for families from the rising cost of petrol and groceries will be offered in the federal budget.

While Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said more money would be out in people's pockets, he warned the government could no longer afford the support levels it provided during the height of the pandemic.

Mr Frydenberg said the upcoming budget would reveal a trajectory where debt, compared to the size of the economy, will peak lower and earlier than thought in December last year.

However, he remained tight lipped on what measures would be implemented to deal with the rising cost of living.

"What we are seeking to do is ... reduce those cost of living pressures by putting more money into people's pockets," he said on Friday.

The treasurer said economic support rolled out during the COVID-19 pandemic could not go on, with continued funding actually doing more harm than good.

"It would risk putting further pressure on inflation, interest rates and cost of living," he said.

He pledged the government would not be "baking in" any new structural spending off the back of temporary revenue increases.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the federal government could not be trusted on what it says about the economy.

Dr Chalmers said the March 29 economic blueprint on the eve on an election is showing "all the signs of another budget full of secret slush funds before the election and secret cuts after".

"This coalition government has barely anything to show for the record debt they had already multiplied even before the pandemic," he said.

"After a decade of marketing and mismanagement, the dividend for Australians is skyrocketing costs of living, falling real wages, and families falling further behind."

Liberal Senator Eric Abetz said cost of living would be a critical issue not just in the budget, but in the upcoming election, likely to be held in May.

"If you've been to the supermarket and seen the price of meat or indeed at the bowser, you will see the cost of living pressures," he told Sky News on Friday.

"How it will be addressed, of course, will be for the federal treasurer to announce and he'll do so Tuesday week."

Labor MP Alicia Payne said cost of living pressures had not been addressed by the government during their time in office.

"This is the ninth budget from this government, and cost of living pressures have been a problem throughout their term," she said.

"I would expect (the government) will probably have some sweeteners in there, as we are on the eve of an election."

In its latest pre-budget announcement, the federal government set aside a $104 million funding package over the next five years to prevent technology and devices being used to perpetrate or facilitate family, domestic and sexual violence.

© AAP 2022