Federal Labor has recruited former premier Peter Beattie to bolster its electoral stocks in Queensland, which is key to a possible victory next month.
Labor made the shock decision to dump its candidate for the seat of Forde, Des Hardman, in favour of Mr Beattie after polling showed sitting Liberal National Party MP Bert Van Manen could hold on.
Mr Beattie, who has been working in the United States since quitting state politics in 2007, said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had convinced him of the urgency of winning Forde from the coalition.
"If we can't win Forde we can't win government," Mr Beattie said.
The LNP holds Forde by 1.6 per cent.
Recent polling suggested Labor could benefit from a seven per cent swing in Queensland on September 7, which would give it 11 seats in the Sunshine State - and the ability to govern in its own right.
The stakes are high for Labor, and the coalition - which could suffer at the hands of voters angry at budget and job cuts by the state Newman government.
"Campbell Newman was the entree, Mr Abbott is the main course," Mr Rudd said this week.
The friendliness between Mr Rudd and Mr Beattie on Thursday suggested any bad feeling caused by the former state premier's criticism of his fellow Queenslander had been resolved.
Mr Beattie once called on Mr Rudd to quit parliament after accusing him of destabilising Julia Gillard, but now accepts he had "learned from his experiences".
"I'm delighted he didn't accept my advice," Mr Beattie said.
Mr Hardman, who had been campaigning for 12 months, was disappointed but stood aside "in the interest of ensuring a Labor victory".
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Mr Beattie was a potential leadership rival for the prime minister and voters could be in for more instability if the government was returned.
"Another flim-flam man, who hit people with record debt and deficit, who is just going to add to the leadership instability in the Labor party," Mr Abbott said of the former premier.
Mr Beattie said he had no aspiration to be prime minister, and nor had he been promised a ministry.
While Mr Rudd was trying to shore up Labor's prospects in Queensland, Mr Abbott was campaigning in Tasmania where the Liberals hope to pick up the Labor held seats of Bass and Braddon.
"Tasmania needs to be an economy as well as a national park," he said.
Mr Abbott announced a $6.5 million pilot scheme specifically aimed at increasing employment in the Island State.
It will pay employers $3250 for every jobseeker they hire full-time and keep on for at least six months.
The scheme, which is capped at 2000 workers, could be rolled out to other parts of the nation where there was high unemployment if it was successful.
The launch came as the latest jobs figures showed national unemployment steady at 5.7 per cent. Tasmania's 8.2 per cent jobless rate was the highest of any state.
Meanwhile, the Australian Greens are crying foul over the prospect of the coalition preferencing Labor first in the seats of Melbourne and Grayndler.
This would make it more likely deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese could hold Grayndler and Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt could lose Melbourne.
The Greens have also urged independent senator Nick Xenophon to preference Sarah Hanson-Young ahead of the coalition in South Australia.
The Greens' immigration spokesperson is at high risk of losing her Senate seat.
