Wong praises 'searingly honest' report

Labor's Senate leader, Penny Wong, has basically backed what she calls a "searingly honest" (she said this a few times) and "extremely well-done" report. She says the navel-gazing should come to an end and recommendations should be implemented ASAP.

As a sidenote, even if she is quoting the report, it's still jarring to hear her acknowledge and say the words "Bill's unpopularity" on the air.

ABC News: Matt Roberts

"Arrogance" and "complacency" are two words that have been bandied about today, but Wong clearly isn't comfortable with that.

"[Arrogance is] not a word I'd use. ... There was observable evidence that suggested we were in a good position. What did happen was that there was a lot more scrutiny on Labor than, for example, when Tony Abbott took on Julia Gillard in the last change of government in 2013. And certainly there was a lot more scrutiny on Labor as a result of what was found to be incorrect polling."

She said the party underestimated Scott Morrison's agility in navigating the campaign.

"I think people underestimated the extent to which he was able to shift strategy and we didn't adjust sufficiently. I think that is a legitimate criticism of us."

When it comes to elections and campaigning, there is always a divide between the wealthy and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, the progressive and conservative ... but Penny Wong doesn't want these divisions to get wider. She says she wants to bring Australia together (but obviously mostly into the Labor camp).

"What the Labor Party has had to do whenever we won government is to ensure that you bring people together, you speak to Labor's broader constituencies, in people's faith on the economy, you keep people's faith on their values. We weren't able to do that."

The Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister also agrees that the Labor Party needs to be more capable in the digital space.

On WeChat we saw a lot of disinformation but also outright lies including the death taxes scare campaign and others. That is an issue for the democracy. Do we really want a situation where people vote on the basis of things which are not true? It is one thing to have a difference of opinion. And to campaign hard on that, and it is another thing to actually run a scare campaign which is based on something which is untrue, based on a lie."

She also took aim at "so-called progressive voters" that she says helped keep the LNP in power.