Prime Minister Julia Gillard has reaffirmed her commitment to protecting Australia's workforce, which she said can only be effectively done by focusing the energy of the government in running the economy.

Gillard, The Australian reported on Thursday, is bent on getting out the message that she is in the business of strengthening the economy, creating employment opportunities and protecting Australia's industries and its workers.

Shifting on the offensive shortly after the resumption of the Parliament, Gillard stressed that her government's intent is to ensure that the economy is heading the right way.

"You've got to be running the economy for a purpose, and the purpose is to serve the needs of working people so they can have jobs, they can have opportunity, they can have prosperity," The Australian quoted her saying.

The federal government's purpose, Gillard pointed out, is backed by programs that look forward to the future such as the minerals resource rent tax and the carbon pricing that will be fully implemented July this year.

The MRRT, Gillard said, will ensure that Australia will have a sustainable economy and the country as a whole will benefit from the mining boom while the carbon tax will guide the industries and protect the environment at the same time.

Gillard also emphasised the importance of the National Broadband Network, which the government will fund with billions of dollars and deliver high-speed internet access across Australia, calling the program as the country's tool for the years and decades to come.

She added that her government is dead-serious in extending assistance to ailing industries, one of which is the car industry that the government has been propping up with millions of subsidies.

Carmakers have emerged as one of the casualties of the rising Australian dollar and the prevailing global uncertainties, showcasing the difficulties that manufacturers have been dealing with for some time.

The country's retail sector also complained of challenges that analysts largely blamed on weak consumer confidence and competition posed by online retailers, which lately have been attracting shoppers taking advantage of their improved purchasing power.

Gillard pledged that the Labor-led government will implement concrete measures to combat the headwinds confronting the economy and assist the country's vulnerable sectors.

She cited the case of the car industry, where government subsidies were projected to preserve some 250,000 jobs in the sector apart from protecting domestic economic functions in general.

"The economic decision for the government is about whether that is worthwhile, not only in terms of direct jobs, but the supply chain and the skills and capacities and innovation that comes with it for the rest of manufacturing," Gillard said.

But as far as the Coalition is concerned, the government will do best if it will abandon programs that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott claims will further hurt the economy.

Abbott picked out the carbon tax, which he said will only add burdens to the already struggling manufacturing sector.

"The carbon tax is an additional substantial cost to an operation which is already losing money and I say to the Prime Minister: If you are serious about protecting the jobs of the manufacturing workers in this country, scrap the carbon tax," Abbott said.