The man who has the most to gain from the switch from Malcolm Turnbull to Scott Morrison says the Liberal party has “sacked a more popular salesman for a less popular salesman”.

Bill Shorten paid tribute on Saturday to Turnbull’s service to the country and offered congratulations to Morrison for his elevation to the top job.

“For all the fierce words of disagreement, I do not doubt for one second that Mr Turnbull was a loyal servant of Australia,” Shorten told reporters at a Melbourne market.

The real problem the government has is they’re still selling the same product. Bill Shorten

But he pulled no punches over the government’s disarray, likening it to “shifting deckchairs on the Titanic”.

“I think what they’ve done is they’ve sacked a more popular salesman for a less popular salesman. But the real problem the government has is they’re still selling the same product,” he said.

“They’ve got a new fella called Scott Morrison who half of Australia hasn’t heard of.”

The political instability could damage Australia’s standing on the world stage, Shorten warned.



“It doesn’t sit easily I think with the Australian people – this knowledge that internationally they look at us and [think] there is no point in a world leader wanting to get to know a prime minister because there will be someone new here next week,” Shorten said. “People think that’s really disturbing.”

Shorten accused the new prime minister of trying to “airbrush history”, labelling Morrison the “architect, the author, and the creator” of bad policies such as the corporate tax cuts.

“We’ve got a situation right now in Australia where everything’s going up except people’s wages, and that’s Mr Morrison’s fault,” Shorten said.

“It’s not the leaders who need to change, it’s the policies.”

He called for a swift election. “I think the sooner the people get a say, the better for Australia,” he said.

“Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton are not going away. The hatred, the bitterness, the backstabbing is not going away.”

Shorten saidLabor had learnt its lessons from its own round of prime ministerial musical chairs.

“What I want to promise Australians is that the Labor party is united and we are stable.”

Meanwhile, a Newspoll published in the Australian has revealed a Peter Dutton led-government would have clawed back votes from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and helped him shore up his marginal seat.



The poll of 1764 people showed Dutton may have received a 5% bounce in support in his own seat, as leader.