Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said today that he will not sit down with the mining industry just because of the election as he discounted the possibility of an early voting in light of the government's plummeting popularity because of the proposed mining tax.

Mr Rudd said that he expects the government to absorb more beating but he is sticking to his fixed term of three years, adding that "you've got to use the time effectively, you can't just dodge hard questions like tax reform, and you've got to engage in it."

For now, the prime minister is happy that the paid parental leave is now a law and "for the first time from 1 January next year you are going to have a paid parental leave scheme for 148,000 parents across the country."

However, Mr Rudd said that the worst is not yet over for his party as he admitted that "this business of reform is a tough business, it is a hard business and it is never some sort of even and smooth trajectory."

The prime minister said that despite the odds, he is bent to complete his term believing that Australians deserve to get the full value from their parliament as he gave hint that the earliest election that could be held is on April 2011.

Mr Rudd's party could be facing a stronger opposition and sources from the opposition are under the impression that the Liberals are poised to capture 15 more seats, purportedly the number they require to secure a victory.

Opposition leader Tony Abbot appeared to be more focused in winning this time and made himself scarce from media attention in the past week, apparently picking up from Labour's preference to disappear when the enemy is in trouble.

Experts believed that Mr Abbot has learned from past mistakes and became more disciplined, which could spell trouble for Labour with its members anticipating a repeat of the opposition leader's past campaign slips or some policy shifts that could boost the chance of the incumbent government to retain power.

The Labour party is far from disillusionment though as many senior members had pointed out that three months ago the party was riding high in the polls and there should be sufficient time to recover should the election be scheduled either in October or November.