By Anhar Khanbhai

Julia Gillard has reached out to the business community seeking advice on cutting red tape, ahead of a COAG meeting in Canberra scheduled for April 12.

About 25 business and industry representatives will convene at a forum chaired by Gillard and backed by key business groups.

They will advise the prime minister and premiers on cutting state and federal regulation, especially for companies that operate across borders.

"Excessive regulation lowers business costs and hinders productivity," Gillard told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

The Productivity Commission has estimated that 17 changes alone could boost the economy by $6 billion a year and cut business costs by $4 billion.

COAG has previously identified 27 red tape areas of concern and of those 16 have been addressed.

Occupational licensing will be a key topic of discussion.

"As a nation we've been in a circumstance where an electrician couldn't go from Queanbeyan (in NSW) to Woden (in Canberra) and ply his or her trade," Gillard said.

Business Council of Australia (BCA) president Tony Shepherd, who attended the forum launch on Tuesday, said it was a great opportunity to "reset the agenda".

"The different rules and regulations in our nine different state and territory jurisdictions are a major drag on our economy and a huge cost to business and consumers," he said.

The announcement about the new advisory forum came as Wayne Swan lashed out at Australian mining billionaires Andrew Forrest, Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart for using their wealth against Labor's upcoming mining and carbon taxes.

The treasurer claims wealthy "vested interests" are threatening the Australian idea of a fair go and have waged "ferocious and highly misleading" campaigns against the taxes.

Swan added to his comments on Tuesday, saying the magnates were "trying to skew national public policies and dress their own self-interest up as the national interest".

ACCI chief Peter Anderson said Swan's comments were "not a helpful intervention".

But he noted the treasurer had always been open to dialogue with business even when there were "differences of opinion".

Shepherd denied the BCA previously had a strained relationship with the Labor government saying links with the Labor government as "a very robust, good working relationship".

"We see this (business forum) as a great step forward," he added.

Gillard said the forum was not about healing a rift with the business community.

"We've had a productive relationship with the business community ... (but) we've got different obligations and different perspectives," she said.