‘One down, one to go’: Opposition leader Bill Shorten fires shots at new Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull

Opposition leader Bill Shorten continues his attack on Prime Minister designate Malcolm Turnbull, following the latter's Liberal Party leadership win against Tony Abbott Monday night with 54 votes.

The Liberals had met for just under 40 minutes to decide the leadership. Julie Bishop retained her position as the party’s deputy leader.

“One down, one to go,” Mr Shorten said at Labor’s caucus meeting on Tuesday morning.

“We got a new leader today…but there’s no new direction. It may not be the same leader, but it is in fact the same message for the Liberal party.”

“This country has been going nowhere for the last two years. Unemployment has gone up. The deficit has go up. Even the NBN’s doubled in cost since the last election. We’ve seen growth down, real wage income growth down. We’ve seen confidence down.

Noting that the country needs no more “showman” but substance, Mr Shorten added that a “change of salesman” means nothing for an “out of touch, arrogant” government.

He said Mr Turnbull has “sold out on all the things that he said mattered to him”, pointing specifically to the marriage equality debate and Mr Turnbull’s push for a taxpayer-funded opinion poll to “delay marriage equality for all Australians”. He also alluded to the fact that Turnbull was right there with Abbott and his Cabinet colleagues when plans were made.

“Malcolm Turnbull…supported Tony Abbott and the Liberal Government with two bad budgets, presided over rising unemployment, the same unfairness, the cuts to pensions, the cuts to schools, the cuts to hospitals, the $100,000 degrees and the collapse of confidence in our economy,” the opposition leader said yesterday.

“The thing about Malcolm, is it’s always about Malcolm.”

While the AFR puts forward the idea that Labor will now be banking on an internal Liberal party fracture to turn voters off – the same way Labor crumbled under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd split – many are also arguing that a Turnbull-led Liberal Party in the next election is the worst-case scenario for Labor.

Labor frontbench reshuffle expected

Meanwhile, Labor’s frontbench is set to go through a minor reshuffle in the lead up to Australia’s next elections.

According to the AAP, Oxley MP Bernie Ripoll and Queensland senator Jan McLucas – both of whom have indicated they would not be seeking preselection for 2016’s contest – are set to step aside from the shadow ministry on Tuesday.

Senator McLucas, who was also the shadow minister for mental health, and housing and homelessness, helped establish the national disability scheme.

Mr Ripoll has been member of Oxley since 1998, taking over One Nation’s Pauline Hansion in the Ipswich electorate. Fairfax reported his retirement will allow Brisbane City Council opposition leader Milton Dick to nominate for the Oxley preselection and enter federal politics.