Bill Shorten has defended question marks surrounding his popularity and suitability to be Australia's next prime minister.
The Opposition Leader has constantly trailed Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison in Newspoll as preferred prime minister despite turmoil within the government.
In the last Newspoll for 2018, Labor led the Coalition 55-45 on a two-party preferred basis, but Mr Morrison was ahead 44-36 as preferred leader.
Mr Shorten said the "path to madness" came from analysing opinion polls every two weeks and refused to buy into them.
He believes attending town hall meetings and visiting hospitals and schools was a better indicator of his popularity.
"When I'm out there with the real people of Australia, I get a good reception," Mr Shorten told Sky News on Wednesday.
"When you're the Opposition Leader, you tend to only be on the nightly news for pulling up the government on a mistake so it's inherently a negative frame.
"You can't make everyone happy."
