Prime Minister Scott Morrison was scheduled to arrive in the Brisbane Street Mall at 3.45pm with a funding promise relating to the City Deal, so Labor snuck in at 3.15pm at Quadrant Mall with $10 million for Albert Hall and $10 million for the hub.

Not to be outdone - and after deciding to skip the walk down the mall so as to avoid union protesters - Mr Morrison appeared in Launceston Town Hall, arriving via a side entrance on St John Street, with even more funding.

He announced $15 million for the hub - the full funding requested by the City of Launceston - along with the $10 million for Albert Hall, a project that would transform it into a 500-seat "cultural and convention centre".

Mayor Albert Van Zetten attended both the Labor and Liberal announcements in the space of an hour, and could not take the smile off his face as Launceston cashed in on its status as a bellwether seat.

Cr Van Zetten said the Northern Suburbs community hub, based at Mowbray with new court space for basketball and other sports, was an important project for the city.

"That's something that's going to make a significant difference not just for the northern suburbs but the whole city of Launceston and the whole Greater Launceston," he said.

"What it's going to mean is that it's a facility that the northern suburbs just have never had, it's a facility that people are going to be able to use, whether it's basketball, whether it's sports of any sort, whether it's rock climbing."

What was slightly less clear was the need for the Albert Hall upgrades, with the council still in the process of undertaking a $60,000 feasibility study to identify maintenance for the ageing hall. In the 2019-20 budget, the council set aside $160,000 for external and internal fabric renewal.

But Cr Van Zetten was pleased with the funding commitment from both parties, nonetheless.

Despite visiting Launceston on Monday night, Labor leader Bill Shorten failed to make any announcements and instead spent the evening with Bass campaign volunteers at St John Craft Brew Bar.

On Tuesday morning however, The Examiner was made aware that Labor planned to announce $4 million to the Northern Suburbs community hub, the day that Cr Van Zetten made a public call for funding, and after Mr Shorten had left the city.

Word was also circulating that the Prime Minister planned to visit Launceston on Tuesday afternoon to make a City Deal-related announcement.

Labor Bass MHR Ross Hart hastily brought forward his hub announcement, which had grown from $4 million to $10 million in the space of a few hours.

Mr Hart said this was a result of his advocacy, and the extra millions were given in an attempt to match the Liberal Party's promise an hour later.

"It shows my ability to negotiate and to advocate for this community that I was able to provide an additional investment over and above what we were already proposing within a relatively short period of time," he said.

"This is the frustrating thing about politics and how people regard politics. It's assumed that we only make promises at election time. I have been consistently advocating for this particular community project for over two years."

Labor also promised to "work with" stakeholders over a cultural institute at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected questions around "pork barrelling" in Bass after both parties' commitments, but admitted he was surprised that Mr Shorten chose not to make the announcement during his Launceston visit.

He said the funding was a result of advocacy of the Liberal Party's candidate for Bass, Bridget Archer.

"These were announcements that we intended to come here and make today," Mr Morrison said.

"We've been working with the local community here, and Bridget has been doing and has the mayor has just said, this has been identified as an important investment to community building and having facility for the community in the northern suburbs of Launceston.

"It's an issue that Bridget has been raising with our team as the local candidate.

"I was surprised that when the leader of the opposition was here earlier today he made no such announcements."

Mr Morrison also announced he would extend the Launceston City Deal to 10 years.