Premier Denis Napthine is pleading with the Abbott government to ''bring forward'' Commonwealth infrastructure funding to offset the pain caused by the looming end of manufacturing by Holden.

Dr Napthine revealed before a meeting of federal cabinet on Monday evening to discuss the car industry crisis he has been pushing for several ''significant'' yet-to-be announced infrastructure projects for Victoria, potentially including a second stage of the east-west link connecting the Tullamarine Freeway to the Western Ring Road, the Metro rail project and public transport improvements.

The plea comes ahead of the release of a report warning that Australia's ship-building industry will grind to a halt from 2015 unless major orders for new warships and submarines are brought forward.

With the manufacturing industry still reeling from confirmation Holden will leave Australia in 2017, following Ford's 2016 departure, the ship-building industry fears it will slip into what the sector calls the ''valley of death'' - a slowdown on planned work from 2015 until after 2018.