Opposition Leader Tony Abbott hopes a special $6.5 million Tasmania jobs plan will help reel in two key seats in the island state, but the local fish factory isn't biting.
Mr Abbott toured Petuna Seafoods in the seat of Braddon before revealing a coalition government would introduce a pilot scheme to pay subsidies to Tasmanian bosses to employ 2000 long-term jobless.
Businesses get the payment if they hire someone who's been on the Newstart allowance for six months or more and continue to employ them full time for at least six months.
The subsidy is a worth $250 a fortnight, or $3250 over half a year.
"This is a boost for business, it's a boost for employment," Mr Abbott said in Devonport on Thursday.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Tasmania has the highest unemployment rate in Australia at 8.2 per cent.
"It's a scheme which is special to Tasmania ... because we need to make a special effort here in Tasmania to build the Tasmanian economy," Mr Abbott said.
He hinted it could be expanded to other parts of Australia if it gets people back to work.
"If it succeeds then, yes, it will expand," he said.
Petuna Seafood factory manager Troy Cornick told AAP the company would give the plan "serious consideration" but it might not be enough to immediately open up positions.
"I don't think we would put more people on necessarily," he said, adding that taking on more staff depended on the factory's ability to produce more trout.
Petuna Seafood employs 110 people, mostly on a permanent part time basis, and processes 7000 tonnes of salmon and trout a year. In the past two years, it's employed an extra 20 people.
"There has to be a need for more people, currently the staff is covering both shifts we have on," Mr Cornick said.
The coalition is targeting at least the seats of Braddon and Bass in the Apple Isle.
Both are in the state's north and held by Labor with margins of 6.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively.
Tasmania's economy is slowing - it shrank by 4.9 per cent over the year to March while the rest of the nation expanded by 2.6 per cent.
"It's imperative we do everything we can to grow a stronger economy," Mr Abbott said.
The Tasmanian jobs subsidy scheme is part of the coalition's broader growth plan for the state, which will be released next week.
At Petuna Seafoods, Mr Abbott inspected the factory's fish gutting production line, flanked by former state MP Brett Whiteley who's running for Braddon - which is held by Labor's Sid Sidebottom.
"I'm pumped," Mr Whiteley told AAP.
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Abbott campaigned in Bass, where he visited a car dealership and highlighted his plan to get rid of Labor's changes to fringe benefit tax arrangements on company supplied cars.
Former army brigadier Andrew Nikolic hopes to take the seat off Labor's Geoff Lyons.
