As the federal election looms, Peter Dutton's life is like a box of chocolates: he doesn't know what he's going to get.
The opposition leader and his wife Kirilly dropped in to Luka Chocolates on the NSW central coast in one of his last stops before the Easter holidays.
Candy eggs, bilbies and koalas greeted Mr Dutton from the kitchen, but the shop owner had a surprise in store: custom-made chocolates stamped with the Liberal Party logo.
"It comes with 25 cents off your fuel," the opposition leader said, in reference to the coalition's cheaper fuel policy.
With an assortment of chocolates to choose from, Mr Dutton donned a plastic glove and started packing boxes for his family and staff.
Cherry liqueur blocks, white chocolate ducks and truffles were all plucked from a glass case and into the opposition leader's $115 purchase.
He also spoke with local customers and helped serve an older woman, jokingly asking for a tip before insisting he would not take one.
The opposition leader ended his visit with a holiday message and urged Australians to drive with care before promising $10 million for more driver reviver sites, and $6 million for a pilot program to conduct no-fault investigations in air, rail and maritime incidents.
It was a sweet end to the day after a morning of hands-on campaigning.
Mr Dutton bent a pipe when he tried his hand at plumbing, got on a drill press and made two holes, and attempted electrical work during a visit to the Hunter Trade College near Maitland, NSW.
Fumbling with some wiring after a demonstration, Mr Dutton suggested he should perhaps "stick to my day job".
"No comment," a supervising teenager said.
The college is located in the marginal seat of Paterson - one in a string of knife-edge north coast and Hunter electorates the Liberals are hoping to seize from Labor.
Blue-clad volunteers lined the New England Highway, enthusiastically shaking Liberal signs at passing drivers en route to Mr Dutton's event.
"Honk to say no to Labor's ute tax," one poster read. "Honk to boot Albo," said another.
But Labor is confident it can lean on the distaste for nuclear power among locals to sandbag the seats at the May 3 election.
The coalition has proposed building one of its nuclear reactors at the Liddell Power Station, about an hour from the trade college.
Mr Dutton has not yet visited a potential future nuclear site on the campaign.
The opposition leader was in the region to spruik a $260 million plan that would establish 12 technical colleges over its first term - including one in the Hunter.
