Prime Minister Tony Abbott will scrap a plan to cut the corporation tax by 1.5 percentage points, meaning corporations will continue to pay 30 per cent.

However, he has also promised that small businesses will get preferential tax treatment to encourage them to hire more people.

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The announcements came in the PM’s pre-budget address to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.

In a speech that was light on detail, Mr Abbott vowed that there would be “no new spending that is not offset by saving”.

He also shifted his rhetoric on the upcoming budget, dropping words like “dull” and “routine” in preference for “responsible, measured and fair”.

He focused heavily on families and small businesses, promising to make childcare more affordable and to “strengthen our budget without damaging yours”.

However, he said childcare reform would be “contingent on the delivering of savings to pay for it”.

Mr Abbott also committed to policies such as work for the dole, saying a work ethic needs to be instilled in young people.

He took several shots at the Opposition, referring to them as “wreckers” to the Coalition’s “builders”. He held up his government’s achievements in repealing the carbon tax and sanctioning live exports of cattle.

He finished by paying tribute to businesses, saying, “I celebrate you, I put you up on a pedestal.”.