Bill Shorten’s tears for his mum, Ann

An emotional Bill Shorten has praised the life and career of his late mother | WATCH

Labor leader Bill Shorten fights back tears during his press conference where he spoke about his mother, Ann. Picture: Liam Kidston

An emotional Bill Shorten has praised the life and career of his late mother, Ann, crediting her as the driving force behind his time in politics.

In response to story in The Daily Telegraph today that accused him of skipping over the “inconvenient truth” of her time working as a barrister during Q&A on Monday night, the Opposition Leader opened up in detail about his mother’s life.

Mr Shorten said she was forced to abandon her dream of studying law as a teenager because her family didn’t have money to pay for the tuition fees.

“She had wanted to do law when she was 17,” Mr Shorten said. “She didn’t get that chance. She raised kids.

An emotional Bill Shorten speaks about his mum.

“She got the best marks. But no-one in my family had ever gone to university. She was very keen to do law. She had a great brain. But a family of four, she was the eldest. She didn’t have the money to pay for her tuition to go to university. So she had to take a teacher’s scholarship.”

The Labor leader said his mother had worked full time as a teacher, while raising her family, before going on to enrol in law school in her late 40s.

With tears in his eye, Mr Shorten said his mum, who died five years ago aged 79, won the top student law prize but struggled to find legal work as a woman in her 50s.

“At 50, she backed herself ... But she discovered in her mid-50s that sometimes you’re just too old, and you shouldn’t be too old, but she discovered that discrimination against older women.”

Mr Shorten said his mother’s life experience is what drives him as a politician.

“People say ‘oh, Bill… who are you?’ What I did on Monday night is I explained who I am. I explained what drives me. My mum is the smartest woman I’ve ever known. It has never occurred to me that women are not the equal of men. It’s never occurred to me that women shouldn’t be able to do everything.”

Bill Shorten and his late mother, Ann Shorten, who died five years ago aged 79.

“My mum has taught me that what matters in life isn’t how rich you are, or how poor you are. It’s not what religion your worship. It doesn’t matter who you know, what church go to…. It doesn’t matter about your gender — it matters how hard you work.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would understand the hurt caused to Mr Shorten by the story.

“I mean, Bill lost his mother five years ago and I can understand that would have upset him a great deal… I would only extend my best wishes to him.

“This election is not about our families... It’s not about our mums or our dads or kids or our wives, as great as they are, it’s about the choice between Bill Shorten and myself as Prime Minister.

“And I know that Bill and I would very much want to keep focused on that choice, not on our families.”