Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has compared the coalition's broadband offering with Noah's Ark.
Mr Rudd made the comment as he inspected giant bobbins containing six kilometres of fibre-optic cables at Corning Cabling Systems in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The manufacturer - based in the Labor heartland seat of Hotham, once represented by Simon Crean - supplies cables for the government's $37 billion high-speed national broadband network (NBN).
"Noah in the ark had more advanced communications technology than what Tony Abbott is offering," Mr Rudd told reporters on day 31 of the federal election campaign.
Labor's NBN will cover 93 per cent per cent of the population, run fibre-optic cable to buildings and deliver download speeds of up to 100 Mbps.
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The coalition's NBN is cheaper at about $20 billion, runs fibre to the street corner and uses copper wire to connect to premises, will deliver download speeds of up to 50 Mps or more and be completed two years earlier.
Earlier, Mr Rudd engaged in some campaign sandbagging in Labor's second most marginal seat of Deakin, held by Mike Symons on a margin of 0.6 per cent.
He inspected a giant hole that will soon become an aquatic centre and chatted to prospective diver, 10-year-old Ethan Newnham.
"No pressure mate, we expect Olympic diver and at least a bronze medal," Mr Rudd said.
The self-proclaimed election underdog then headed to Adelaide in the afternoon, vowing to defend the car industry to his "very last breath".
Mr Rudd visited the Futuris Automotive factory in Adelaide's north where car interiors for the Holden Cruise and VF Commodore are made.
"We have great ability with these things called our hands, we go out there and build seriously good stuff," Mr Rudd told factory workers.
He said the Australian car manufacturing sector was an "industry of the future".
The facility fits out 330 vehicle interiors a day, down on the 600 it manufactured four years ago.
Futuris product manager Martin Smith attributed the decline to a rise in cheap car imports.
The factory is based in Nick Champion's safe Labor seat of Wakefield, held on a safe margin of 10.5 per cent.
Mr Rudd told car workers Mr Champion was a "good human being" and that he would "come after" them if they didn't vote for him.
The prime minister will spend Wednesday night in Canberra before his National Press Club Address on Thursday.
