Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) will be first on his hit list, should a Liberal government be elected in September.

At the Committee for Economic Development of Australia conference in Sydney on Friday, Mr Abbott laid out the coalition's broad economic strategy, saying his government would inject an "instantaneous adrenalin charge" into the economy through scrapping taxes - primarily the MRRT and carbon tax - and controversial spending cuts.

"The coalition will get spending down. We will do it in ways which we believe are responsible. Some of the ways we will do it will be controversial," Mr Abbott said.

He said it was possible to deliver tax cuts, increase spending and have a budget surplus at the same time through boosting productivity and growth in the economy.

"If we do have strong economic growth, profits are up, income is up, employment is up and government revenue is up," he said.

"In fact, with strong economic growth the government can simultaneously increase spending, cut taxes and boost the surplus.

"And if you say that's a magic pudding, it is actually what happened for the last five or six years of the Howard government."