It was a pity he didn't consult his party bosses beforehand.

By Friday afternoon, his leader Bill Shorten had not only matched the Coalition commitment but had undertaken to see how that funding could be brought forward.

Stephen Jones - and presumably some of his party colleagues working in the background - made the classic mistake of carrying on like an embattled opposition. Perhaps this was out of habit - an ingrained reflex aimed at trying to score on-the-fly political points.

It was an echo from the state election, when shadow treasurer Ryan Park dismissed as "Monopoly money" the NSW government's $960 million highway commitment in one breath then undertook to match it in another.

Having seen how that played out for Mr Park, Labor frontbencher Stephen Jones really should have moved on from this form of sniping.

First, no matter how you slice and dice them, the opinion polls say Labor is poised to win government. So it now needs to start talking like a government, with positive action plans and commitments.

Bill Shorten did exactly that in Moruya on Friday afternoon, when he announced he would match the Coalition funding commitment.

This was evidence the statement of bipartisan intent on fixing the Princes Highway had evolved from mere words to action.

They old saying, "A single swallow doesn't make a summer", might come to mind for the more cynical among us but for those whose yearlong campaign to have the highway fixed, that single swallow was a welcome sight. We applaud the three major parties - Liberal, National and Labor - in committing to this first trickle of funding.

While a record for federal investment in the NSW section of the Princes HIghway, $500 million will be a trickle when the aim is to duplicate the highway from the Jervis Bay intersection to the Victorian. In today's money, the cost for that long-term vision is about $15 billion.

However, a start is a good thing. Even better, a start involving both sides of politics.

We have always maintained the highway should be above politics.