As Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten has just one election left in him with an even chance it will come in 2018. It is clear he will not die wondering.

While his performance in 2016 had surprised supporters, out-pacing a desultory Coalition campaign, the next one is Shorten's make-or-break run.

Which explains why the politically edgier Opposition Leader sought the jump on his rival by scheduling a scene-setting National Press Club address designed to seize the initiative on an anti-corruption watchdog, and neutralise the government's gathering confidence on the economy.

Turnbull will hit out (and back) with a luncheon address in two days time, tellingly from regional Queensland rather than Canberra.