Albo's $800,000 Balmain pool promise

Labor has pledged $800,000 to upgrade Australia's oldest swimming pool in a key Sydney battleground seat as Anthony Albanese dives into an election battle with the Greens.

Mr Albanese, a prominent Labor left figure who wears his love of fighting conservatives on his sleeve, is at risk of losing his inner west Sydney seat of Grayndler when voters head to the polls.

Hitting the hustings on Thursday, the opposition frontbencher offered up a thick wad of cash to upgrade the Dawn Fraser Baths, in the waterside suburb of Balmain, if Labor wins office next month.

Mr Albanese said the pool had been loved by locals since it opened in 1884, but hadn't enjoyed a facelift in some 30 years.

He argued the local funding sweetener was deliverable under a Labor government, while his Greens opponents were busy making promises with cheques they couldn't possibly cash.

Mr Albanese was quizzed at the conference on his approach to fighting the Greens, when Tories had always been his political enemies.

"I believe in fighting for a Labor government ... the Greens aren't trying to fight to win government, they're trying to replace one or two Labor MPs," he said.

"I'm busy fighting conservatives around the country."

Asked just how busy he was fighting Grayndler Greens candidate Jim Casey, while his own campaign trail wound around the country, Mr Albanese replied: "I can walk and chew gum at the same time."

Meanwhile, Mr Albanese wouldn't be drawn on whether Labor should hold a contested leadership ballot if the party loses the election, nor whether he would throw his hat in the ring.

"I don't speak in hypotheticals - what we're about is ensuring Bill Shorten is elected the prime minster of Australia," he said.

"My sole priority is to be a minister in a Shorten Labor government, because that's what makes a difference."