Denis Napthine picked the perfect wingman in former prime minister John Howard.
Australia's second longest serving PM on Wednesday enjoyed a celebrity welcome at the Eastland shopping centre in Ringwood, a region affected by the controversial East West link project.
With a big media scrum in tow, Mr Howard shook hands, made schoolgirls giggle and gleefully posed for countless selfies with tradies through to teenagers who couldn't contain their excitement.
A beaming Victorian premier and local Liberal MP Dee Ryall basked in his wake.
Dr Napthine hailed Mr Howard as a great leader and the best prime minister since Robert Menzies.
"To see the reception that John Howard's received here today, it just goes to show he knows how to campaign, he knows how to attract a crowd and he certainly is a person who's still very popular with the whole community," he said.
Mr Howard, who lost his own seat and the 2007 federal election, spruiked the Napthine government, and warned a vote for Labor would dangerously compromise the state's economic growth.
"Denis Napthine has presided over the best running economy of any of the states of Australia," he said.
"The people of Victoria I hope will keep that in mind and won't take the risk of handing the management of the Victorian economy to a man whose bound hand and foot to the radical left wing CFMEU."
Mr Howard said he believed Dr Napthine was campaigning well and wouldn't be drawn on opinion polls showing a Labor win, saying it was pointless to comment on hypotheticals.
Shop owner Agnes Ng, who migrated from Malaysia 15 years ago, hugged the former PM and told him she loved him.
"When I first came here, he was the prime minister," she said.
Mr Howard and Dr Napthine were heckled by a couple of shoppers. One accused Mr Howard of having blood on his hands and was angry about the East West link, while the other lashed them over education and health funding.
