Bill Shorten has revealed a national secret: behind closed doors, he and Malcolm Turnbull actually get along quite well.
But just hours after letting the cat out of the bag, Mr Shorten said while he liked the prime minister he thought the Liberals would dump him as leader before the next election.
"Quite frankly if I was to lay a bet on this matter I don't think I'll be facing Malcolm Turnbull at the next election," Mr Shorten has told the ABC. "I think the Liberal party will move on to someone else."
The opposition leader revealed his fondness for Mr Turnbull during a valedictory speech to parliament.
"In fact, I recall one meeting when the prime minister actually asked me if there was some way we could be nicer about each other in public," Mr Shorten said.
"I said, 'We could swap jobs' ... I thought I was pretty agile, really."
The fierce political rivals had far more in common than people realised.
"We are both married to brilliant women. We have both battled the member for Warringah (Tony Abbott)," Mr Shorten quipped.
"We have both grown up wanting to help run the AWU and join the Labor Party."
But Mr Shorten's jokes had run dry by Thursday evening, when he took aim at his opposite number.
Mr Shorten lambasted the prime minister as a "massive disappointment" unable to run the Liberal party.
"I'm watching him shrink into his job, sell out positions he's always thought were really important just to keep his party happy."
The opposition leader took a few stabs at who he may be facing when voters next go to the polls.
Mr Abbott was on the war path and Julie Bishop may think it's her turn after serving as deputy to three different leaders, he said.
"The point about it is, for me it's not who the Liberals pick, they're not going to change their policies."
