Scott Morrison is defending his record on protecting manufacturing jobs after a factory he visited conceded within 24 hours it is sacking Australian workers and outsourcing work overseas.
Mr Morrison on Tuesday visited a Rheem Australia facility in Parramatta, spruiking an election commitment to create 1.3 million jobs within five years.
But Rheem later confirmed there would be job losses at the same factory, after a restructure to shift some operations to the company's Vietnam site.
During a visit to an oil refinery in Geelong on Wednesday the prime minister was forced to address the issue, saying the factory had since advised his team the workers were being offered voluntary redundancies.
"Companies like Rheem are investing in Australia, advanced manufacturing companies are investing in Australia," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"We have a manufacturing plan, based on having lower taxes, affordable energy, but on top of that, investing in the sectors which we know can achieve scale and achieve a competitiveness in Australia."
Rheem managing director Chris Taylor said in a statement the Rydalmere employees were told about the changes in 2021.
"The change is being made to ensure the ongoing competitiveness of the business against a growing range of imports, and to maintain the viability of its three existing Australian manufacturing facilities," he said.
The third day of Mr Morrison's election campaign was used to outline fuel security measures, including a $250 million grant to shore up domestic supply.
The grant will be split between two refineries - an Ampol facility in Brisbane and the Viva Energy refinery in Geelong - and used for major upgrades.
Mr Morrison says the investment will secure fuel production and supply against global uncertainty sparked by events like the conflict in Ukraine.
"COVID-19, the Russian war in Ukraine and trade restrictions have disrupted global supply chains and Australia is not immune," he said.
"Oil refineries literally fuel a stronger economy and these investments will help keep our truckies, miners, defence force and farmers moving across Australia."
The prime minister started Wednesday with a visit to a manufacturing facility in the seat of Lindsay in western Sydney which is held by the Liberals on a margin of five per cent.
Earlier on Wednesday, he discussed Victoria's vaccine mandates on Geelong radio station Bay FM, after a listener questioned why they applied to facilities like golf clubs but not polling places on election day.
"I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be able to go and do the other things, they can do those other things in other states and territories," Mr Morrison said.
"People will continue to be sensible, but people are going to go out there and vote on election day and especially be able to go and play golf, too."
