Australian Labor needs to redouble its effort to appeal to the political centre in the wake of the US election, Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has told the Victorian party faithful.
Speaking at Victoria's State Conference on Sunday, Mr Shorten said the election of Donald Trump as president shows "old certainties are shifting" and Australia needs to learn from it.
The growing strength of the extreme left and right was not cause for alarm, he said.
"It is proof that Labor must redouble our efforts to appeal to the centre," Mr Shorten said.
"Whilst we are a different country, some of the seeds of disquiet we see overseas are present and growing in this country."
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Mr Shorten also said he stood by his earlier comments about the president-elect .
He said he would never support disrespecting women, the unemployed, migrants, veterans, or Muslims.
In a press conference after his speech, Mr Shorten reinforced that while Australia was different to the US, the loss of local jobs and inequality needed to be challenged.
"We're not in the same state as the United States, but having said that, there are worrying signs," he said.
"Living standards have fallen since the Liberals were elected, down two per cent, most of the jobs that get created now are part-time jobs.
"Even more worryingly, most of the jobs getting lost are full-time jobs."
Labor's two-day conference began on Saturday, with Premier Daniel Andrews using his speech to announce an independent registration and accreditation scheme for the state's disability workforce.
