Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rallied the "true believers", conceding the only Labor opposition in Australia faces a tough battle to win the Tasmanian election.
The island state is heading to the polls on March 23 with the Liberals, who have been in power for a decade, chasing a record fourth term.
If voting follows recent opinion polls, neither of the two major parties will have the required 18 seats to form majority government.
Labor has just 26 per cent of voter support, with the Liberals on 39, according to a survey of 1000 people in February.
Mr Albanese said if state Labor leader Rebecca White became premier, her No.1 priority would be addressing cost-of-living issues.
"Last year down in Hobart we came together to celebrate 120 years of Tasmanian Labor," Mr Albanese told the party's campaign launch at a Launceston brewery on Monday.
"Through every one of those years Labor has relied on the energy ... of our true believers ... in the union movement and the branches.
" ... that has never been more important.
"Because in tough contests like this election, at a time when people are busier than ever and the media they consume is more fragmented than ever, real conservations face-to-face ... they matter more than ever before."
Ms White, who is having a third tilt at becoming premier, announced Labor would introduce a home ownership shared-equity program enabling first-time owners to buy a house with no deposit.
She said the housing crisis was so bad even people with "good jobs" had been shut out of the market.
The scheme will be open to couples earning up to $200,000, or single people earning up to $150,000, with "extra allowances" for those with children.
Ms White said the standard arrangement would be for the government to take a 20 per cent share of the property.
The value of eligible properties will be capped at $600,000 for existing houses and $800,000 for newly constructed homes.
Ms White said there would be no cap on how many people could participate, with the scheme to be reviewed after two years.
"We'll put up the deposit you need - and you can pay us back when you sell the house or when you've saved enough to buy us out," she said.
Liberal housing spokesman and incumbent MP Nic Street said the pledge was virtually the same as an existing scheme.
The MyHome program, introduced in 2022 and accessed by 190 households, allows people to buy their first home with a two per cent deposit.
"All Ms White has done is take our existing policy, put a lick of paint on it, and shamelessly tried to pretend it's something brand new," Mr Street said.
The Liberals again campaigned on tourism, a day after announcing they would help fund construction of the world's largest chocolate fountain at the Cadbury headquarters in Hobart.
They promised $4 million for more destination marketing and a $5 million fund for aviation opportunities.
