The Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, has lashed Joe Hockey as an “arrogant, cigar-chomping” Treasurer in a fiery speech to about 1000 Labor true believers at the Sydney Town Hall.

And he has vowed Labor will offer “no retreat, no surrender” in its fight to preserve universal health care, arguing that up to $50 billion in cuts to hospitals over the next decade will be “federation changing”.

Speaking at the NSW Labor party conference, Mr Shorten launched a blistering attack on Mr Hockey after returning to Australia from a week in the United States.