Bill Shorten is well aware of Anthony Albanese’s leadership aspirations

Party insiders acknowledge Anthony Albanese is lifting his Labor leader profile “in case Bill gets hit by a bus’’.

Anthony Albanese walks past Bill Shorten in parliament yesterday. Picture: AAP

Bill Shorten’s inner-circle is resigned to Anthony Albanese’s public positioning as an alternative Labor leader, saying they understand he has to do it “in case Bill gets hit by a bus”.

A senior Labor figure and Shorten ally said there was no question Mr Albanese had been parading his leadership credentials

“We all know Anthony is doing this. He has to do it in case Bill gets hit by a bus,” the Labor MP said.

“Albo knows he needs to position himself in case anything happens to Bill. We understand that. But the party is behind Bill. He’s doing a good job against (Malcolm) Turnbull, and there is no appetite to change the leader now. We’ve been there, we don’t want to go back.”

An analysis of Mr Albanese’s comments stretching back to the May budget shows the frontbencher contradicting the Opposition Leader, or embarrassing him by promoting his own policies and political arguments.

Mr Albanese was active in the media this week, likening himself to a rugby league halfback — widely considered the most valuable player in that code — or a handy midfielder in AFL terms.

GRAPHIC: Differences of opinion

As Mr Shorten was accused of “lurching to the left”, Mr Albanese also declared he was not a “mad leftie” and that he took a “commonsense” approach to politics.

The year’s first Newspoll published in The Australian on Monday showed Mr Albanese and Deputy Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek were more popular with voters than Mr Shorten, while Mr Albanese was twice as popular with Coalition supporters.

Ms Plibersek rejected suggestions yesterday that Mr Albanese was being “mischievous”.

“I think it’s absolutely proper that all of our frontbench are out there arguing in the media for a Labor agenda,” she said.

Mr Albanese’s recent proposal for an Australia Day referendum on a republic and indigenous recognition left Mr Shorten flat-footed, after the Opposition Leader struggled to respond to calls for a change to Australia’s national day.

In recent weeks, Mr Albanese also argued the case for further reforms to the Labor Party, which Mr Shorten dismissed as of little interest to voters.

Colleagues also noted Mr Albanese’s no-nonsense attacks on the Greens in Batman, where Mr Shorten has struggled with Labor’s position on the Adani mine.

The government is making the most of the leadership speculation to score political points against Mr Shorten. “The Australian public have this bloke (Mr Shorten) pegged,” Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told parliament this week. “I’ll tell you who else does — the member for Grayndler (Mr ­Albanese).

‘‘He is getting ready to go. This bloke is biting at the bit because he knows this Leader of the Opposition is propped up by the union bosses.”