Jim Gleeson was just popping into the shops to grab some furniture polish for his wife when he heard Bill Shorten was around the corner.
A self-confessed Labor man, he couldn't resist the opportunity to have a chat to the opposition leader.
The 78-year-old was involved in unions since he started in the shearing sheds in 1953, and spent eight years as a Labor councillor on the Townsville City Council.
He thinks Mr Shorten is on the right track so far but in a city reeling from the recent collapse of Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel refinery, he says voters will want to see job creation.
"I think they'd probably win but you know there's a lot of water under the bridge yet, it's a long campaign."
A former newsagency owner, Mr Gleeson said claims Labor governments were bad for small business were "crap".
What worries him is the price of groceries at the supermarket, and education.
"As a family man and a grandfather, it's food on the table."
Mr Shorten hit the streets of Townsville on Wednesday afternoon, meeting and greeting voters in the marginal government-held seat of Herbert and dropping in at Fuel Cafe for a flat white.
The city is a key battleground in the election, with Mr Shorten setting up camp in Townsville for most of the first week and promising to return during the eight-week campaign.
Herbert stands to be one of the biggest Queensland winners from his $3.8 billion boost to school funding and he's also promised $100 million for a new stadium to create 700 jobs.
Allanna Allen, operations manager at Fuel Cafe, said both Mr Shorten and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made good points, but at the end of the day, it's about who follows through.
"Every election we get all these promises and then they don't necessarily happen, regardless of who gets in," she told AAP.
"As long as Townsville benefits, I'm happy."
Another Labor voter, 62-year-old indigenous woman Patricia Dallachy, who is undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer, said health policy was her key concern.
She told Mr Shorten about the difficulty of finding her diabetes medication in Townsville.
She tried every chemist in town on Wednesday with no luck and had just two days' worth of medication left.
"I'm trying to really fight for all people with diabetes," she told reporters.
"A lot of our people are on dialysis and just imagine not having that tablet - everybody will have to go on dialysis."
Mr Shorten said Labor had yet to announce its health policy but insisted he was committed to protecting Medicare.
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