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Tens of thousands of workers will soon be targeted for jobs in childcare centres across the country but could be earning more at McDonalds or Bunnings.

Danielle Wood from the Grattan Institute said Australians should be shocked by salaries in early education.

Ms Wood said lifting the wages of childcare workers needed to be a key priority of the government in its push to make early childhood education more accessible.

"The fact trained workers doing this critical and emotionally challenging work are getting little more than those flipping burgers at McDonald's or manning the counters a Bunnings, should shock us," she said.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Ms Wood said Australia would not meet its full potential until it made better use of highly skilled women.

She also said reforming the childcare activity test, which significantly restricts access to subsidised care for some families, must be high on the agenda.

The government's women's economic equality task force recommended the activity test be scrapped.

Advocates are hopeful the government can be persuaded to abolish it before the budget is handed down.

Labor has committed $55 billion over the next four years to make child care more affordable for 1.2 million families.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said cheaper child care was key to addressing the cost of living.

"What we've tried to do is to provide cost of living relief in a number of areas so we can make things a little bit easier," he told reporters in Canberra.

"Cheaper child care will make life easier for a lot of families in a way that doesn't add substantially to the inflation challenge in our economy."

The government will also set aside $72.4 million across five years to support the training of childcare workers.

More than 80,000 early childhood educators are set to benefit, with a focus on regional and remote services and Indigenous organisations.

The private sector is confident the Albanese government can hand down a responsible budget that's good for business.

More than two-thirds of mid-sized business owners surveyed agreed the budget would be positive for the sector.

But the RSM Australia survey of more than 300 mid-sized businesses also found almost a third thought their own business would be in a worse position post-budget, with half believing they would be in a better spot and 17.5 per cent predicting no change.

RSM Australia chief executive partner Jamie O'Rourke said small and medium sized businesses were comfortable with Labor's approach to tax reform that's largely targeted at the big end of town.

But he also said the focus on responsible budgeting that does not fuel inflation would mean little extra support for businesses.

"This doesn't bode well for new cash injections for businesses or households outside what the government has already promised, such as targeted energy bill relief and a focus on the disadvantaged," he said.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to publicly swear allegiance to King Charles at his coronation after extending an invitation for the monarch to visit Australia.

The prime minister had a private audience with King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London ahead of the coronation at the weekend.

"It was a pleasure to meet King Charles III again at Buckingham Palace and an honour to represent Australia at his coronation," Mr Albanese said after the meeting.

Mr Albanese reiterated during the audience that the King and other members of the royal family were welcome to visit Australia.

The prime minister is among a contingent of Australians invited to the coronation along with Governor-General David Hurley and state governors.

In an interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan, Mr Albanese said he would do "what is entirely appropriate as the representative of Australia" when asked if he would swear the oath of allegiance to the King.

Members of the public watching the coronation have been asked to join the oath, but several prominent ministers have said they will not take part in the pledge.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he was "unlikely" to pledge allegiance or watch the ceremony.

The Australian Republican Movement had called for Mr Albanese to stay silent during the oath.

Australian Monarchist League national chair Philip Benwell said the prime minister was hypocritical for indicating he would swear allegiance while not doing more to encourage the nation to celebrate the coronation.

"This is the first coronation most Australians would be able to participate in ... he's blocked it because he is a republican, introducing a republic by stealth," he told AAP.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the government should be focused on the future.

"This should be a moment that we're having a debate about what kind of country we want to be," he said.

"Who should be our head of state, and the government seems to be taking that off the table."

Mr Albanese told Morgan he had a lot of respect for King Charles despite being a lifelong republican, adding that he did not expect to see an imminent referendum on removing the monarch as head of state.

"When the demand is there, I'm sure a vote will be held," he said.

The Australian delegation attending the coronation includes Matildas captain and football star Sam Kerr, singer Nick Cave, Aboriginal artist Jasmine Coe, comedian Adam Hills and London-based nurse Emily Regan.

In honour of the coronation, the Australian government will contribute $10,000 to the West Australian conservation charity Friends of the Western Ground Parrot.

Mr Albanese said King Charles long championed conservation and the government was pleased to mark the event by helping to protect the critically endangered bird.

The King, who is the monarch of 14 overseas realms including Australia, will host a lunch for prime ministers and governors-general at Buckingham Palace and also attend a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on Friday, the day before his crowning.

Mr Albanese said he would be meeting with other world leaders to strengthen Australia's relationships around the world during his visit to the UK.

On Sunday, Australia's Federation Guard will fire a national 21-gun salute from the Parliament House Forecourt, followed by a Royal Australian Air Force flypast.

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A police officer is fighting for life and another is seriously injured after they were stabbed and their attacker shot dead in a small South Australian town.

Sergeants Ian Todd, 53, and Jordan Allely, 32, were stabbed when they went to a house in Crystal Brook on Wednesday morning.

They had gone to the Symons St property to follow up on a fairly minor incident at the local supermarket the previous day.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said Sgt Todd's injuries were life-threatening and he had been airlifted to Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition with stab wounds to his neck, arms and hands.

Sgt Allely was in a serious but stable condition with wounds to his right leg and arm. He was also airlifted to RAH.

Sgt Allely is officer in charge at Crystal Brook, about 200km north of Adelaide, and Sgt Todd holds the same role at nearby Port Germain. Both have relatives in the force.

Mr Stevens did not identify the offender but said he was found dead by police who responded to the first calls for assistance.

He described both officers as highly regarded in their local communities.

"They're good people. They are respected. The way they do their job is also respected," he said.

"I'm sure this will be felt quite harshly by those local communities.

"This is not an indication of the type of activity we normally see in small regional communities but we really don't know what's happening beneath the surface in some situations."

A commissioner's inquiry is under way along with a coronial investigation with major crime detectives, a forensic science team and internal investigations officers expected to remain at the scene for some time.

Both officers were wearing stab-resistant vests and had body-worn cameras.

Mr Stevens said their families were being taken to Adelaide and the force was giving them as much support as possible.

"This is something we accept as a possibility as a result of the nature of the work we do," he said.

"There are inherent dangers in policing but our officers are trained to conduct their duties as safely as possible.

"The sad reality is that police officers are injured quite frequently on duty and we're very hopeful both ... Ian and Jordan come through the injuries they've received."

A shop worker in Crystal Brook, who believed she served the dead man earlier in the day, said they had chatted about the rain and his dog.

"Not long after we found out there was a siege down the street where he lived," she told Adelaide radio FIVEaa.

"From there we found out more information, exactly what did take place.

"Which is pretty scary and hard to hear. These things don't really happen to a small country town very often."

SA Police Association President Mark Carroll said the incident showed how quickly situations could escalate.

"Policing is a highly dangerous occupation. We try to be as safe as we possibly can," he said.

"But it's so unpredictable. People can do things in an instant."

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the incident "will be difficult news for the South Australian community to absorb".

"Our frontline workers do an inherently difficult and dangerous job each day when they go to work," he said.

"They exercise this duty with courage and bravery."

No South Australian police officer has been killed while on duty for more than 20 years.

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TASMANIA'S QUEST FOR INCLUSION IN THE AFL

* 1994 - The state government launches a failed bid featuring a 30,000-seat stadium at Glenorchy in northern Hobart.

* 2008 - Another push, with confectionary company Mars on board as a potential sponsor, occurs despite the AFL stating it prefers the Gold Coast and western Sydney.

* 2014 - Then-AFL deputy chief executive Gillon McLachlan says he supports a stand-alone Tasmanian side entering the competition but it would not happen for at least 10 years.

* 2016 - A report by former Western Bulldogs CEO Simon Garlick suggests a path forward where one Melbourne-based club plays 6-8 games a season in Tasmania.

* 2018 - McLachlan releases the findings of a review, saying football's fractured and fragmented state in Tasmania has to be fixed before a team can be considered.

* June, 2019 - A new task force, headed by co-founder of Virgin Australia Brett Godfrey, is formed to create a business case.

* March, 2020 - Then-premier Peter Gutwein urges the AFL to consider replacing one of its less profitable clubs with one from the Apple Isle.

* August, 2021 - A report by former Geelong president Colin Carter finds the case for a team representing Tasmania is strong but relocation was still an option.

* August, 2021 - McLachlan says the AFL will decide in 2022 whether to grant Tasmania a licence.

* October, 2021 - Four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson officially joins Tasmania's campaign.

* March, 2022 - Gutwein unveils early plans for a new 27,000-seat stadium at Regatta Point in Hobart.

* June, 2022 - McLachlan indicates the bid is contingent on the island state building a new stadium.

* September, 2022 - The state government confirms the preferred location for a new $715 million multi-purpose 23,000-seat roofed stadium is Macquarie Point in Hobart.

* November, 2022 - Tasmania's government and the AFL reach an in-principle agreement on commercial terms for the bid, but the timeline around a final decision remains unclear.

* February, 2023 - The AFL pledges $360 million towards a team.

* April, 2023 - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirms the federal government will contribute $240 million towards the stadium precinct, the final piece of funding needed.

* May, 2023 - McLachlan grants Tasmania the league's 19th licence after 18 club presidents reach unanimous agreement and it gets the green light from the commission.

© AAP 2023