Prime Minister Julia Gillard opened on Friday the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting with emphasis on two main agenda - reducing regulatory hurdles and addressing the skills shortages.

Facing a dominant council of conservative state and territory premiers, the Labor leader acknowledged such new reality and took special notice on the presence of Premiers Campbell Newman and Jay Weatherill.

The two recently chased out Labor governments from Queensland and South Australia respectively, which further highlighted the dwindling dominance of the Australian Labor Party in the council of governments.

Yet brushing politics aside, Ms Gillard welcomed the newly-elected Liberal premiers at the Parliament House while reminding the council at the same time: "We've got a big agenda in front of us today."

"The task is before us now to make sure we take those views and turn them into real action," Ms Gillard was reported by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as saying.

Her foremost concern, the prime minister said, is to lay out a clear cut solution on the alarming skills shortages that economists warned could derail Australia's future growth plans.

Ms Gillard expressed optimism that the council would opt to cooperate in unleashing the $1.75-billion package that she stressed, will greatly define the welfare of Australian workers.

The package, she added, will also secure Australia's quest for further prosperity.

Ms Gillard reiterated too her commitment to eliminate as much 'green tape' as possible, which was agreed upon on Thursday during the council's Business Advisory Forum.

That forum, according to The Australian, identified six priority areas for reform namely: national environmental rules; development approvals; the rationalisation of climate change mitigation programmes; energy market reform; development assessments; and risk-based regulation.

Early on, Mr Newman and Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu presented their concerns, which mainly demand more focus on state and national productivity with specific focus on the ailing construction and manufacturing industry.

Specifically, the new Queensland premier echoed the Coalitions' hard stance against the carbon tax, stressing that the tax measures must be repealed by the federal government.

Also, Ms Gillard reportedly aims to present too her disability reform plans before the council, which won the backing of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

The disability reform initiative, according to Mr Abbott, "has to be the property of the whole nation rather than that of any particular political party."

With the proposed reforms, all persons with disabilities in Australia will have access to assistance from the government, with the Coalition looking into the possibility of forming a national disability insurance scheme.

Its functions, Mr Abbott said, will be laid out by a joint parliamentary committee, which will be co-headed by the dominant parties.

The plan should become a reality by 2018 but noted that its implementation should far extend into numerous governments, making it imperative for all political parties to participate in the initiative.

Such cooperation would "enable more Australians to feel proud of their parliament," the Liberal leader was reported by The Herald Sun as saying.

"Do we have it in us, as individuals and as a people, to transcend the usual constraints and to shape policy according to the great ethical imperative to treat people as you would yourself be treated?" Mr bbott said.