Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used his first trip to Western Australia since the border reopening to add to a slate of defence spending announcements ahead of the federal election.
Mr Morrison used the $4.3 billion commitment to a dry dock in south Perth to spruik his government's national security credentials.
But the government is under pressure to address the rising cost of living ahead of the federal budget on March 29, with Mr Morrison saying he remains "keenly focused" on the issue.
"We are making these decisions carefully because we do our homework, we make the assessments, we understand the pressures that are there and we make sure we can tailor the support the best we possibly can," he said.
But a recent Newspoll shows Australians might not believe him, with Mr Morrison becoming the least trusted prime minister since the question was first put to voters in 2008.
Forty per cent claimed the prime minister was trustworthy compared with 44 per cent who said the same about Labor leader Anthony Albanese.
Mr Morrison was able to claw back some sentiment with voters when it came to being a more experienced leader, but was also thought to be less empathetic, and more arrogant and out of touch.
Mr Morrison dismissed the poll, saying the government has demonstrated its ability to manage the economy, including with the unemployment rate predicted to drop into the threes.
"The election should be about how do we keep our economy strong and how to we keep our borders safe," he told Perth radio station 6PR on Tuesday.
Mr Morrison also walked back comments from Monday night after coming under fire for questioning the weight loss of Mr Albanese.
"The glasses you wear and what suits you wear doesn't make you a prime minister - it's being able to make the decisions to support our defence force, the decisions to be sure we keep our economy strong," he added.
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers had labelled the original crack at his leader "panicked and desperate" and reflective of Mr Morrison's character.
But he was keener to point out the tightened purse strings Australians are suffering, as opposed to Mr Albanese's tightened belt.
Dr Chalmers said the focus needed to be on getting power bills down, making childcare cheaper and getting real wages growing again.
"Cost of living pressures are skyrocketing and working families are paying the price for a Morrison government which cannot manage the economy in their interests," he said.
Labor was forced to fend off attacks that it had begun pork barrelling marginal electorates after Nine newspapers reported its spending promises strongly favoured target electorates.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said Labor had done "exactly the same" as the government with its grant programs, after audits found they overwhelmingly favoured coalition and marginal seats.
But when pulled up on his apparent slip of the tongue, and asked whether "exactly the same" constituted an admission to pork-barrelling, Senator Birmingham said the government made commitments at the last election and delivered on them throughout the term.
"It is the rank hypocrisy that I am calling out here," Senator Birmingham told the ABC.
Opposition housing spokesman Jason Clare said Labor would not mirror the coalition's "colour-coded spreadsheets" in providing grants, but rather base decisions on the advice of local and state governments and have their merit reviewed by the infrastructure department.
