A children's netball match in the heart of suburban Melbourne stops for neither rain nor a prime minister.
Officials standing with their arms outstretched in miserable weather in Vermont South were doing their best to prevent people flowing onto courts on Saturday morning, as kids and parents attending weekly games tried to snag Scott Morrison for a chinwag.
From every angle, girls whose game was finished or yet to begin were jumping onto benches to catch a glimpse of the man amongst the cameras.
"Out of all the places!" one girl remarked to her friend.
The prime minister was in the eastern Melbourne seat of Deakin alongside local Liberal MP Michael Sukkar, who holds the seat by 6.44 per cent, to talk up $30 million the government is giving Netball Australia.
Cities Minister Alan Tudge was also present by coincidence, with his own daughter umpiring and playing at the Sportlink facility.
The netball funding is part of $70 million the coalition has vowed to spend on sporting centres and events, including $15 million to give the national women's soccer team the Matildas a permanent home in Melbourne.
Change rooms will also be upgraded at 124 sporting fields across Australia, making many of them more accommodating to women.
"This is how communities come together, just look at it," Mr Morrison told reporters after watching part of a game, in a moment of relaxation ahead of the Liberal Party's campaign launch on Sunday.
The prime minister also revealed a plan to help women get back into the workforce or pick up extra hours after caring for their children or elderly parents.
He wants to spend $75 million on mid-career checks for women, and some men, who have stepped out of the workforce for at least two years and don't have a similar program available in their current job.
Participants would have an initial meeting with a career professional, who would assess their needs and provide relevant support and advice.
Women may have been the focus of the day, but the leader insisted he hasn't reflected on introducing quotas to boost their number in Liberal parliamentary ranks.
"I haven't really focused on that issue in the course of this election. I'm just focused on my responsibilities as a parliamentary leader," he said.
"We have a record number of women in my cabinet, more than any other government in Australia's history."
The prime minister spent Friday in central Queensland, talking up the coalition's support for mining and manufacturing workers, and talking down Labor's credibility to deliver on its policy costings.
Mr Morrison referred to such "traditional industries" again on Saturday.
"They deserve our respect, not the sneers of the Labor Party and the Greens."
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