Speaking at a budget lunch at the Sydney Sofitel today, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the government's 2012-13 budget had deliberately ''set Australian against Australian'', and pitched battlers against billionaires.

This comes as Treasurer Wayne Swan said that Mr Abbott was ''conducting class war'' by voting against the government's Schoolkids bonus, announced in the budget.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard advised Mr Abbott to "get off Sydney's north shore" where he has some of his electorate and "go and talk to some real families and get himself in the real world'', after the Coalition refused to back the bonus. The bonus passed the Senate yesterday.

Apart from the cash bonus to eligible parents of school children, the budget also took tax cuts away from business to fund cost of living payments to low and middle income earners.

In a speech to business leaders and the party faithful this afternoon, Mr Abbott hit back saying Australians should be grateful to people who have succeeded in business and attracted billions of dollars of investment.

He said previous Labor leaders, such as Ben Chifley and Bob Hawke, would not have boiled the political contest down to a ''crass fight'' between battlers and billionaires.

''Not even Paul Keating would ever have done it, because frankly, he wanted to be a billionaire.''

''They have deliberately set out to set Australian against Australian,'' he said of the government

Mr Abbott said that it was natural for politicians to have ''honest'' disputes in politics, but that they should never say that some Australians are more real ''worthy'' than others.

''I know in the marrow of my bones that you cannot have a strong society, cohesive communities without strong economies to sustain them,'' he said. ''Success is good.''

This morning, Mr Abbott also hinted that the Coalition might scrap the support package to families attached to the carbon tax if he won government.

''I am not saying this particular measure is there forever, but certainly it's not something that we are inclined to oppose at this time,'' he told Sky News this morning.

In Adelaide, Ms Gillard continued her argument that Mr Abbott did not understand the pressures in the ''real world''.

''We're the party that unashamedly stands for lower and middle income earners,'' she said.

''[Mr Abbott is] intending to take away the family payment increases and give them back to Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart.''

Mr Swan also told reporters in Brisbane that Mr Abbott was ''conducting class war''. ''Fancy this, standing up in the parliament and voting no for the Schoolkids bonus when he knows families face enormous costs of living pressures when their kids are at school,'' he said.

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