Bill Shorten wants the “difficult task” of leading his party in opposition and believes Labor can win the next election if it focuses on ideas and not personality.
The outgoing education minister is the first to stake a claim as leader of the shattered Labor party after the Rudd government’s weekend defeat.
“I do not believe if I seek to become the leader of the Labor Party that you can automatically choose the time that suits you,” he told reporters in Melbourne, when asked if he was daunted by the job of restoring Labor to government.
“I am always motivated by how to make the Labor Party most competitive. And also I understand that for us to win the next election, it won’t be about an individual, it’ll be about a team.”
Taking a dig at the party’s past leadership instability, Mr Shorten said Labor could win next time “if we are the party of ideas not just personalities”.
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“We can rule a line under the division of the years of the Rudd and Gillard era and Labor can look to the future,” he said on Thursday.
“I’d certainly say to my colleagues, people want to hear Labor talk about ideas. They don’t want to hear us talking about ourselves and certainly not disparaging each other.”
Labor caucus will meet on Friday to discuss a leader. But under historic changes introduced by then prime minister Kevin Rudd, ordinary members can vote if more than one candidate applies for the job.
With two or more candidates, leadership can be determined by a ballot weighted at 50 per cent caucus members and 50 per cent ordinary members of the party.
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Former deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese is being urged to run but is yet to announce his intentions.
In what appeared to be a pitch to rank-and-file members on Thursday, Shorten said Labor cannot afford to sit back and bide its time in opposition.
He would not “sit idly by and watch the wrecker of Australian politics tear down the accomplishments of the last six years”, Shorten said.
These included the NBN, the disability insurance scheme, better schools, a fairer industrial relations system and the price on carbon.
If Albanese stood for the leadership he would be an excellent candidate, Shorten said.
Shorten called for a new civility in how the party conducted the ballot.
While there had not been any nominations for deputy leader, he said the party would be well served by outgoing health minister Tanya Plibersek.
“I think she would be a very strong part of the leadership proposition which would interest the Australian electorate,” he said.
