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The state government will pour $35 million into children's cancer research in Victoria if re-elected in November's election.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the lives of kids living with cancer would be transformed under the pledge.

"This will have enormous benefits in Victoria," he said.

READ MORE: Residents in Echuca brace for Murray River peak after levels hit highest in 100 years

The funding will change and save many lives, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford added.

"For anyone at any age, a cancer diagnosis can is a terrifying prospect as a parent this can be doubly true," she said.

"I know what it's like to have a doctor say your child has cancer, it was the worst moment imaginable."

Pulford lost her 13-year-old daughter, Sinead, to cancer back in 2014.

"Three days ago my daughter should have been turning 21. And we lit some candles," she said.

READ MORE: Treasurer Jim Chalmers reveals how federal budget will impact Australians amid cost of living crisis

"I truly believe this plan will make for the lighting of more birthday candles and less memorial candles.

"We need to do better for our kids."

Andrews said the funding would be rolled out over the next four years if Labor is re-elected next month.

"We will invest in additional research for children's cancer, it's about dealing with life-long impacts of cancer care," he said.

"All of this is possible because we have the best hospitals with the best staff.

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New South Wales Transport Minister David Elliott has announced he will leave state politics at the next election rather than enter a factional preselection campaign.

Elliott confirmed last night he is quitting ahead of the NSW election next March.

He explained he decided to withdraw from a preselection battle following the abolition of his seat in Sydney's north-west. He had previously contested the safe Liberal seat of Baulkham Hills in Sydney.

READ MORE: NSW and Queensland brace for another flood emergency as wild weather bares down

"With the abolition of my Baulkham Hills electorate and advice that I cannot be accommodated in the new seat of Castle Hill on factional grounds, I have today advised my community that I will not be recontesting the 2023 state election," Elliott said in a statement.

Elliott, 52, is the latest senior NSW Coalition MP to announce his retirement.

Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes, Corrections Minister Geoff Lee and Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello previously said they were standing down.

Elliott has recently been involved in the dispute with the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union about a new enterprise agreement.

READ MORE: Treasurer Jim Chalmers reveals how federal budget will impact Australians amid cost of living crisis

Looking back on his 12 years in state parliament, he paid tribute to the support of his wife and two sons.

"To Nicole, Lachlan and William. The burden of public life is heaviest on those we love," Elliott said.

"Whilst the boys and I have always had a good giggle at the emotion and thought invested into the 'constructive feedback' I've sometimes attracted, I know Nicole often took it personally. Her loyalty has been inspirational."

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The upcoming federal budget will "build a better future" for all Australians, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Speaking exclusively with Nine's Political Editor Charles Croucher on Weekend Today, ahead of Tuesday's budget, Chalmers said the budget would contain a blow-out in social security pay-outs.

Chalmers said it would be an extra $33 billion over the next four years.

READ MORE: Residents in Echuca brace for Murray River peak after levels hit highest in 100 years

"We do recognise that times are very, tough right now and so the indexation that kicks in will be substantial," Chalmers said.

"About one-third of that $33 billion will be age pension, another third of it will be JobSeeker payments. We know that people would always like us to do a bit more but we can only promise what we can afford.

"So our cost of living relief is deliberately targeted and timed in a way to not add to these inflationary pressures and we don't want anything on Tuesday night to be counter-productive."

The primary focus of the budget is the cost-of-living crisis, Chalmers said.

He said the budget was "solid, sensible and suited to the times".

"The fact that inflation will be higher for longer than we would like to see, our responsibility is to not make that situation worse and provide that cost-of-living relief in areas like child care," he told Croucher.

"(The budget) will back families, build a better future and I hope it will bring Australians together around some of these big economic challenges we are confronted (with) today."

READ MORE: NSW and Queensland brace for another flood emergency as wild weather bares down

Couples will also soon be assessed on their combined income to be eligible for the Commonwealth's paid parental leave scheme, Chalmers said.

In the past, if people earned more than $150,000, they were not eligible for the previous scheme in its entirety.

However, couples will now be assessed on dual income, meaning if they earn less than $350,000 combined, they will be eligible. The move will impact nearly 200,000 families.

"This will be a family-friendly budget," Chalmers said.

"I hope people see it as a budget for the whole country, a budget which does more than batten down the hatches, it actually brings people together, builds a better future and backs in family."

Chalmers conceded the government would be forced to rein in spending.

He said the budget would reflect a "more responsible approach" to spending.

"I think people understand if you spray cash around indiscriminately in an un-targeted way, you can make the inflation problem worse and can make interest rates go up more than they would otherwise go up," he said.

"We are very conscious of that."

Watch the full interview between Charles Croucher and Jim Chalmers in the video player above.

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