Malcolm Turnbull has adopted a "shoulder-shrugging style" when it comes to everything from power prices to home ownership, the Labor caucus has heard.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten delivered a pep talk to the caucus at its first meeting since the winter break, with the latest Newspoll giving Labor a 53-47 per cent two party lead over the coalition.
Mr Shorten said the prime minister had shown a "complete failure of leadership" on a range of issues, which would be pursued during a fortnight of parliamentary sittings starting on Tuesday.
"I think many Australians are increasingly sick of the prime minister's excuses on any of these matters: NBN, home ownership, energy prices, marriage equality, rising inequality in this country," Mr Shorten said.
"It is that shoulder-shrugging style of his which says, 'What do you expect me to do about it? I'm only the prime minister'."
The Labor leader said the opposition would be focused on the issue of inequality, which did not simply mean the gap between rich and poor.
"We also talk about the inequality between prospective first home buyers and their parents on one side and the property investors subsidised by the Turnbull government on the other," he said.
"We talk about millionaires getting tax cuts, large multinationals getting $65 billion ... but millions of working Australians have had no wage rise for the last three years."
Inequality also related to the gender pay gap, people in regional areas getting second-rate broadband and the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians on "nearly every indicator".
