Encircled by a vivid doughnut of BAE Systems manufacturing workers (clad in ceremonial election dress of hard hats and fluoro vests), the Prime Minister declared he wanted the ''vast bulk'' of Australia's naval ships to be built in country. Announcing that construction of two supply ships would be fast tracked, he explained this would plug a looming lull between major projects, which Williamstown workers have apocalyptically termed ''the Valley of Death''.

''The Valley of Death will be crossed and crossed well,'' Rudd proclaimed with all the pizazz of a TV evangelist.

Earlier, he had strolled the yard, where the windy conditions placed untold pressure on the prime ministerial fringe. The fringe, however, was used to it. The BAE trip was Rudd's second visit to Williamstown during the election campaign, leading to a rare double-selfie as he met workers. ''Did I see you the other day?'' the Prime Minister said as a man named Eric squeezed in for a photo.

Rudd's grand theme as he toured the shipyard was not simply jobs but ''certainty and security'' for the BAE workers' careers. ''Your jobs are important jobs, they're important to me,'' he told the doughnut, which clapped with feeling.

On Thursday morning, in the muted surrounds of the parliamentary offices in Melbourne, he once again refused to buy into chit chat that his own political career was fast running out of both certainty and security.

He used a range of metrics to suggest that really, the election was not a Valley of Death but a Mountain of Possibility for Labor.

Not only had Paul Keating defeated John Hewson in 1993, but in the long history of the Melbourne Cup, favourites had a habit of losing on the day.

To top it all off, there was a stack of voters who hadn't yet made up their noggins about the election. ''I submit myself happily to the Australian people's judgment,'' he said. ''And with that we've gotta zip.''