Shorten talks jobs in Tassie

Bill Shorten was talking jobs with shipbuilders when the attention turned to his own line of work.

"I don't know how you do it," said Matt Wiggins, manager at Haywards steel fabrication in Hobart.

"And you haven't got bags under your eyes."

The response was exactly what you'd expect from an opposition leader vying to be Australia's next prime minister.

"I love this job," Mr Shorten insisted, despite winding up week six of one of the longest election campaigns in history.

On day 40 of the 55-day campaign, Mr Shorten returned to Tasmania to unveil his plan for youth unemployment, pledging to replace the coalition's controversial youth internship program if he wins government.

His Working Futures program will support 20,000 young people each year offering a six-week pre-employment course followed by a six-month work placement paid at an award-equivalent training wage.

He insists it'll create jobs, unlike the government's "exploitative" Youth PaTH program which will pay businesses to hire young job seekers.

The announcement followed a week focused on jobs, with Labor unveiling a $62 million plan for apprenticeships and $100 million to save the Arrium steelworks at Whyalla.

Mr Shorten was spruiking both announcements as he toured the steel fabrication business in Hobart on Friday, talking to workers about the importance of producing steel and maintaining manufacturing industries.

"We've got your back," Mr Shorten told workers.

"We want to look after Australian steel, we want to train apprentices and we're interested in shipbuilding in Tasmania.

"So we'd like you to vote for us - which can't come as a complete surprise."

Mr Shorten said under the coalition, the number of apprentices had fallen by 120,000.

Mr Wiggins warned Australia needed apprentices if it wanted to retain its manufacturing sector.

"You've got to make a decision - we're either going to be in this and have a manufacturing sector in the country or we're not," he said.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Shorten was handed $100 by Ray Hill, a self-confessed Labor man who came down to meet the opposition leader at his press conference in Sandy Bay.

"That's OK mate, no," Mr Shorten insisted.

"You don't have to."

But the 78-year-old wasn't taking no for an answer.

So he did as Mr Shorten suggested and gave the cash instead to Brian Mitchell, Labor's candidate for the Tasmanian electorate of Lyons.

"I reckon he's done a wonderful job," Mr Hill later told reporters.

"He's led the way."

Mr Shorten has now taken his campaign to Sydney where he will go head to head with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a debate on Facebook.