The prime minister has denied suggestions of by-election pork barrelling after making a major funding announcement in the NSW seat of Bennelong as Labor's star candidate seeks to take credit for the plan.
Flanked by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and federal Liberal candidate John Alexander, Malcolm Turnbull announced a $100 million bus interchange for Macquarie Park on Tuesday.
Construction for the "transport hub" would begin in 2020, according to the government.
The battle for Bennelong has intensified with a series of polls showing Labor's Kristina Keneally is neck and neck with Mr Alexander for the December 16 vote.
The by-election is crucial to the government which stands to lose its one-seat majority in the lower house if Mr Alexander is defeated.
Mr Alexander resigned from parliament earlier this month after conceding he probably held UK as well as Australian citizenship.
Ms Keneally, a former NSW premier, has campaigned strongly and Mr Alexander is facing possible defeat on a two-party preferred basis.
Asked if the $100 million amounted to pork-barrelling to secure the seat for Mr Alexander, Mr Turnbull pointed to road congestion in the area.
"This is vitally needed infrastructure and that is why we are making the investment," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"That is the difference. The coalition government builds and Labor government cancels at a huge cost."
Ms Berejiklian and local state member for Ryde Victor Dominello were on hand to spruik the federal funding.
"I want to thank the prime minister for providing the vital funds for us to be able to get on with the job of building this infrastructure," Ms Berejiklian told reporters.
Within hours of Mr Turnbull's press conference, Ms Keneally and "Labor's A-team" announced it would match the $100 million commitment.
Ms Keneally, joined by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, deputy leader Tanya Plibersek and shadow treasurer Chris Bowen, tried to sell the government's announcement as "a small victory for Labor".
"We're pleased with it, we welcome it and we will build it if elected," Ms Keneally told reporters.
Mr Shorten said if it weren't for the "spirited" Labor campaign in Bennelong, the bus interchange would not have been promised by the government.
"Kristina Keneally is already paying dividends for the voters of Bennelong and she hasn't even been elected," Mr Shorten said.
"I think people will see that Malcolm Turnbull is desperate and he'll just chuck the kitchen sink (in) because he's got a divided party."
Ms Keneally, who Mr Shorten described as "a dynamo, the energy Bennelong needs," posed for photographs with young voters in the electorate on Tuesday - including a Liberal volunteer handing out how-to-vote material in a John Alexander shirt.
