Peter Beattie says he's willing to travel more than 1300km away from the seat he's contesting to put its issues on the map.
The former Queensland premier is trying to wrest the seat of Forde, south of Brisbane, away from the coalition.
But on Monday he was at the opposite end of the state, campaigning with another Labor candidate in the north Queensland electorate of Herbert.
Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop spent Monday on the hustings in Forde with incumbent coalition MP Bert van Manen.
She accused Mr Beattie of showing contempt for local voters by "flitting off" to the north in the middle of the campaign.
"I know he's a blow in, but he doesn't have to remind everybody, every day, that he has no connection to Forde, and no interest in representing the people of Forde," she said.
But Mr Beattie said his trip to Townsville was about protecting health jobs in Forde.
He said the Liberal National Party state government had presided over job cuts that had hit the Logan hospital, in Forde, and the Townsville hospital, in Herbert, very hard.
He said he was trying to make sure Queenslanders didn't sign up for the same thing under Tony Abbott.
He also said Logan was a forgotten city, robbed of media attention in favour Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
"If I have to come to Townsville to put Logan on the map I will," he told reporters.
"The metropolitan media forgets about Forde ... Logan and Forde are an important part of the state."
Federal Treasurer Chris Bowen also defended Mr Beattie's Townsville trip, and said he was a campaign asset for Labor.
"I've got no doubt there are campaigns, around Queensland in particular, asking him to come and visit," he told reporters in Brisbane.
"It's good of him to take the time to visit other electorates but I know his focus has been on his own."
