Standing between pallets of laundry powder and mouthwash, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has promised a coalition government will do its best to prevent struggling regional Australia going down the drain.
After a tour of conveyor belts at a NSW Central Coast chemical packaging factory on Tuesday, Mr Abbott tried his hand at sorting some lime splice antibacterial gel.
"I hope he's better at his own job," a worker quipped as Mr Abbott fumbled to fill a box with pump packs.
The opposition leader used the visit to pledge that, if successful at the September 7 election, the coalition would offer cash incentives for unemployed workers to take up and remain in jobs in regional areas.
He also announced the relocation of a Commonwealth government agency to the NSW Central Coast hub of Gosford.
"Part of (the coalition's) plan for a stronger economy is specifically targeted plans for regions that are struggling," Mr Abbott said.
The "anchor tenant" agency would see some 300 jobs shifted to Gosford, he added.
Mr Abbott started Tuesday at nearby Newcastle at a small ceremony with Bali bombing victims, announcing a policy that is very personal to him.
He wants to introduce retrospective compensation for terror victims.
Eligible Australian victims and next of kin who have suffered as a result of terrorist activity dating back to September 2001, would be in line for up to $75,000.
Mr Abbott was holidaying with his family in Bali in 2005 when a bomb claimed 20 lives including four Australians and injured more than 100 people.
Newcastle lawyer Paul Anicich, who was one of the injured, said he appreciated Mr Abbott's pledge.
"Your role in all this has been extraordinary," he told Mr Abbott on Tuesday.
Mr Abbott helped arrange for Mr Anicich to be airlifted out of Bali for urgent medical treatment in Singapore at the time.
"From what I'm told, you took yourself away from your family and to the site of where you had been told Australians had been bombed, at personal risk to yourself, to do what you could for your fellow man," Mr Anicich said.
Mr Abbott's campaign caravan has moved south and is due to kick off in Melbourne on Wednesday.
