Mr Howard went on a walkabout through Westfield Penrith Plaza on Wednesday with Lindsay MP Fiona Scott, marking a political homecoming to one of the seats which helped deliver his four federal election victories.
"It's one that we captured from the Labor Party the first time when my government was elected and we held it for a long time," Mr Howard said.
The veteran campaigner was unsurprisingly singing from the coalition's hymn sheet in Penrith, making sure jobs and growth were never far from the conversation.
Speaking to Sky News, he said it was important to have politicians who take care of the middle class to avoid what he called a 'Trump phenomenon' in Australia.
Mr Howard said he believed American voters are turning to Donald Trump because the middle class is becoming poorer.
"The greatest fear I have is that. the great Australian middle class, which has held the country together for generations, will overtime be eroded and that will happen if we lose our economic stability and our economic strengths. All countries that see their middle class diminish get into trouble, and one of the reasons for the Trump phenomenon in the United States is the American middle class is becoming markedly poorer."
