Bill Shorten: I am at peace with never having been prime minister

Mr Shorten, who used Frank Sinatra lyrics to sidestep a question on Thursday about his role in the 2013 leadership spill, on Friday defended his decision.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, his family, and Anthony Albanese at parliament on Thursday after announcing his retirement from parliament. Picture: AAP

Outgoing NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says he is “at peace” with never having been prime minister despite initial disappointment in the face of his 2019 election loss.

Mr Shorten also defended his central role in the tumultuous second leadership spill of the year in 2013 in the then-Labor government, saying former prime minister Kevin Rudd “saved some seats which might have otherwise been lost”.

Mr Shorten announced his retirement from politics on Thursday, ending his 17 years in parliament. Mr Shorten will stay on as minister until February, after which he will take on a role as the University of Canberra’s vice-chancellor.

Mr Shorten went on a whistlestop tour of radio and television interviews on Friday and was asked on ABC radio Melbourne whether he was “OK” with never having been prime minister.

“Am I at peace with it?” He asked. “Yeah, sure. I’d love to have won. And do I think I could have done a better job than Scotty [Morrison]?

“Yes, but we’ll never know. And I’ve got the chance to do a lot of other stuff.”

Mr Shorten reflected on his failed bids to become prime minister in the 2016 and 2019 elections. “Very few people in life get the chance to have an ambition or an idea or a vision and actually have a crack at it,” he said. “For everyone who wins a grand final, there’s a team that doesn’t.”

He was asked about his role in toppling former prime minister Julia Gillard during the second leadership spill of 2013 when he was an influential factional leader who threw his support behind Dr Rudd after previously supporting Ms Gillard.

“The reality is that I do think that in 2013, Kevin Rudd saved some seats which might have otherwise been lost,” he said. “It was still a big defeat, and we had to rebuild from 55 seats … we’ll never know.”

Mr Shorten also dismissed questions about the fact that he had been appointed to the University of Canberra whose chancellor is Lisa Paul, co-author of the NDIS review under his department.

“Lisa Paul’s been the secretary of the Department of Education,” Mr Shorten said. “She served with nine different ministers, Liberal and Labor.

“When she and Bruce [Bonyhady] chaired the review, I don’t even know if she’d been appointed chancellor of UC. “And furthermore, there was certainly no vacancy. So, you know, let’s just chuck that little conspiracy theory … just chuck that theory in Area 51.”