I’ve always had a soft spot for Bill Shorten, a complex character who will be missed in politics

I’ve always had a soft spot for Bill Shorten. I got to know him during my time running the Herald’s Parliament House bureau in Canberra and have stayed in touch since.

He probably won’t like me saying it, but Shorten is a complex character. He’s funny, smart and wise. He is a cunning and clever political animal. He loves his family and is loved by his current and former staff. He’s also been a brilliant minister in the Albanese government.

But he does not lack self-confidence. He helped politically execute two prime ministers with alarming ease. And at times I have been frustrated at the jarring disconnect between the captivating private Shorten and the more wooden public Shorten.

I think his departure from politics to take up a new role as the University of Canberra vice chancellor will be a real loss for Labor, and public life generally. One of the more interesting tributes came from former prime minister Tony Abbott, whose leadership took a big hit from Shorten’s pursuit of the 2014 budget. “Bill Shorten’s retirement is a loss for our parliament,” Abbott wrote on Facebook. “Yes, he’ll continue to serve our country in the academe, but we need more people of courage and conviction in our public life and Bill has been a striver for the higher things in his time in the parliament.”

Abbott is right – Shorten never lacked courage. His 2019 election platform – particularly the proposed reforms to rein in negative gearing concessions and the franking credits scheme – took real guts.

As the Herald notes in an editorial, Shorten may be remembered as the last political figure with the guts to take big reforms to an election. “His 2019 policy pitch undoubtedly did him political damage,” the editorial observes. “Some thought him crazy at the time. Perhaps he was more crazy brave. It is a shame this gutsy approach to politics was not rewarded at the time.”

Shorten performed well at the 2016 election against Malcolm Turnbull, but fell short at that poll and again in 2019. After those losses, Shorten could have easily left parliament for a more lucrative career. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and went about becoming the Albanese government’s most effective minister.

He did well pursuing the robo-debt disaster, but his greatest contribution has been as minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The scheme is so important to so many Australians, but cost escalations have been out of control, and the pot of government money has proved a tempting lure for many shonks.

Shorten has done a great job of making the scheme more sustainable. Balancing the competing needs of the disability sector and budget realities would have proven too difficult for most ministers but Shorten has – so far – pulled it off. It has been unglamorous but really important work.

I wish Bill all the best. The University of Canberra will be lucky to have him.

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