Labor politicians are defending their boss, Bill Shorten, after his credibility was questioned during a royal commission into trade unions.
Senior Labor MP Anthony Albanese believes the opposition leader's time at the party's helm is "certainly not" over.
He backed Mr Shorten's testimony about his time working as Victorian and national secretary of the Australian Workers Union.
That's despite Commissioner Dyson Heydon questioning Mr Shorten's credibility as a witness, noting his answers were too long.
Mr Albanese believes his leader gave vigorous testimony.
"He answered every question that they had and he did it in a way that was forceful and defended his record that he is proud of," he told Channel Nine on Friday.
The commission has discovered Mr Shorten only declared on Monday a $40,000 campaign donation that labour-hire company Unibilt made in 2007.
Following the revelation, former ALP national secretary Bob Hogg called for Mr Shorten's resignation.
But opposition MPs and senators are pointing the finger back at the Abbott government, accusing it of staging a political witchhunt to attack Mr Shorten.
Opposition frontbencher Brendan O'Connor told ABC radio it was a conflict of interest for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to spend $80 million of taxpayer money to go after the political opponents of the government.
The coalition-established royal commission was labelled an "Americanisation of Australian politics" by Labor senator Sam Dastyari.
"Incumbents use these kinds of processes, show trials, to smear political opponents," he said.
The ABC reports MPs are privately conceding Mr Shorten has lost "some skin" after being hauled before the commission but maintain there is no smoking gun.
Mr Albanese believes the Australian public will look at the commission in context.
"(This is) from a mob who want to get rid of penalty rates, who want to get rid of the sort of conditions the union movement has fought for," he said.
But Small Business Minister Bruce Billson said the heart of the issue was "what was happening for the workers".
"Like a mate buying you a car, if he is getting a sling off the car dealer how does he look after your interest?" he told Channel Nine on Friday.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says Mr Shorten faces twin challenges: to convince the royal commission his conduct as a union leader was legitimate and convince AWU members he was trying to get the best possible deal for them.
"The question is did he get an advantage or did he receive a benefit at the time he was meant to be negotiating a deal for the union members?" she asked on ABC radio.
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