Opposition Leader Bill Shorten isn't worried about new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but concedes he wanted to be the one to remove Tony Abbott.
"I think it is a good thing for this country that Tony Abbott is no longer prime minister of Australia," he said on ABC television's Q&A program on Monday night.
"Of course, though, I would have liked to have been the one who replaced Tony Abbott because whoever did that was going to get a boost in the polls, as they say."
Mr Shorten said the Liberals had done "exactly" what Labor did during the Rudd-Gillard instability, which "caused a lot of harm".
"It was very difficult, but I think Labor has learned its lessons," he said.
"What Labor learned from that... is that you can't treat this as business as usual and that politics is all just about the next opinion poll.
"That would be a mistake."
Mr Shorten hoped he could work with Mr Turnbull on a series of key issues, such as climate change, domestic violence and marriage equality.
"I think it's really important that Malcolm Turnbull doesn't change his views that he had when he was the sort of Liberal gadfly giving Tony Abbott a hard time, and I hope that he sticks true to his views," he said.
He couldn't comment on Mr Turnbull's strengths or weaknesses, noting "he has been there for six days".
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