An election could be held as early as August 7 next year, and must be held before May 2022.

Expectations are high that Scott Morrison will go to the polls in September or October 2021.

While the Morrison government has talked up the budget as being about rebuilding from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, there will also be a strong political element to it.

This can already be seen in the budget leaks leading up to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's speech on Tuesday night.

Loosening the rules and scope around billions of dollars in grants and major project spending in regional and rural areas will win friends especially in Nationals-held seats, as well as the handful of Labor and independent seats being targeted by the coalition.

Providing incentives to small businesses - think tradies and home-based online businesses - is good economic policy in a downturn, but will also be important to firm up the Liberal base

Seeking greater flexibility for employers to set pay, terms and conditions for workers is bread-and-butter policy for the coalition and will give Liberal-Nationals supporters something to rally around.

And then there are tax cuts.

Having legislated the biggest income tax cuts in Australia's history, bringing them forward will not only help stimulate the economy but stimulate thanks in the minds of many voters.

However, the government has a political weak point - on the issue of fairness for pensioners and the jobless.

Extending the JobKeeper subsidy into early 2021 but cutting its rate could come back to bite Morrison.

Labor says the cut has come in too early, as the impact of shutdowns continues to hurt business and industry.

The boosted dole, now known as JobSeeker, is also being wound back and there is uncertainty around what its level will be in 2021.

It appears the dole won't go back to $40 a day, but it also won't be set at the same level as the government increased it to when the pandemic first hit.

Morrison is hoping to win the argument that setting the JobSeeker payment too high will act as a disincentive for the jobless to head back into the workforce.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese argues the prime minister is "kicking people while they are down", pointing to the estimated 700,000 Australians impacted by the reduced payments by December.

Similarly, pensioners have been left to wonder why the government has not acted to help them.

Their payments were effectively frozen by the fact that inflation - which usually lifts their payments twice a year - went backwards.

This is a space to watch in coming weeks.

Another important political point is this recession is different to its predecessors.

In the 80s and the 90s, it was older, male blue-collar workers in manufacturing losing their jobs.

This time around it is young people and women working in such sectors as retail, aviation, entertainment, hospitality and tourism.

How much help is provided to these ex-workers and industries will be key to the success of the budget, both economically and politically.

Then there is the question of overall economic management, which the coalition has for so long prided itself on and used to earn the trust of voters.

Debt is heading towards $1 trillion and Tuesday's budget deficit will be in the vicinity of $200 billion - a far cry from the years of ongoing surpluses announced by Frydenberg last year.

Both Labor and the coalition see the budget as an opportunity not simply to crawl out of the recession, but to set the nation up for the future.

Albanese and Morrison have been using speeches to talk up the need for Australia to be more self-reliant in terms of manufacturing, skills, agriculture and energy security.

With the major parties are largely in agreement about the shape of the economy, voters will need to weigh up which of them fits their priorities and sense of fairness.

Australian Associated Press