Bill Shorten is fired up and fighting fit.
After Sunday's successful official campaign launch, and opinion polls still pointing to a tight finish on July 2, the opposition leader came out blazing on what he says is more of a referendum on the future of Medicare than an election.
This is despite Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull strenuously denying that he will "never ever" privatise Medicare, and calling Mr Shorten's scare campaign "shocking".
"No one believes you, Malcolm," Mr Shorten told reporters at the Cannington Medical Centre in Perth on Monday.
"When Liberals say 'never ever', get very nervous indeed."
In a quieter moment, Mr Shorten had a quick chat to a couple of mums and their toddlers at the centre, in the seat of Swan.
"We're here today to make sure that we keep talking about saving Medicare, protecting bulk-billing," he told Emily Clarke, whose 14-month-old daughter Jemima was having a checkup at the centre.
Tracey Forde also met Mr Shorten with her 17-month-old twins Rhianna and Rylan, but her little boy wasn't too impressed by the gaggle of pursuing cameras.
"Oh, are the cameras upsetting you?" Mr Shorten asked.
The flu-infected Mr Turnbull wasn't at the centre, and perhaps should have been, now sounding more like he is auditioning for a remake of The Godfather rather than the prime ministership.
In contrast, Mr Shorten later told the National Catholic Education Commission conference he is "fighting fit and full of energy with 12 days to go".
He said with election day in sight it's a bit like approaching the last week of term.
"Speaking for myself I'm not in any rush to go on holiday," he said.
He said while the timing and detail of any election campaign is tight, he was determined to address the conference.
"Why wouldn't I want to show off a little bit when we are the only party with an education policy for the next 10 years," he said.
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