Coalition figures have joined Bill Shorten’s allies in praising the former Labor leader whose prime ministerial potential was never realised after he bowed out of politics after 17 years for a $1 million university role.
One of the longest-serving party leaders of recent decades revealed on Thursday morning that he would quit in February, before a likely election between March and May, saying he wanted to leave when still young enough at 57 for a new career after a losing two elections as party leader.
He will become the next vice chancellor of the University of Canberra at the start of the new university year, moving full-time to the nation’s capital after decades of flying in as an MP and previously as a union leader.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Shorten would remain in cabinet as the …