Bill Shorten has praised Malcolm Turnbull as a political rival who used the word "love" in his public remarks more than anyone else.
The Labor leader narrowly lost the 2016 election to the outgoing prime minister but paid tribute to Mr Turnbull on the day he was forced to leave the job.
"For Malcolm, for Lucy, for their family and for his personal staff, who are as loyal and as close as family, this is a very hard day indeed," Mr Shorten said in a statement on Friday.
"For all our verbal conflict, for all the fierce words we've exchanged, I hope Malcolm knows that I have always respected him as a formidable opponent.
"(And) as an advocate of great intellect and eloquence and as someone who came to parliament, relatively late in life, because he was driven by the desire to serve.
"Australian politics will always need people like that, on all sides."
Mr Shorten said he would often speak at the same events as Mr Turnbull and noticed something small but significant.
"I don't think any Australian prime minister has used the word 'love' more frequently in his public remarks," Mr Shorten said.
"Anyone who listened to him speak could always hear his deep and profound love for his wife Lucy, for their children and grandchildren but also his abiding love for our country."
Earlier, the Labor leader described the Liberal spill as the result of a "brutal campaign" to tear down Mr Turnbull and said the government would remain hopelessly divided.
Mr Shorten said there was a lack of leadership in Canberra as he accused the Liberal Party of not treating Mr Turnbull the way a prime minister deserved to be treated.
"What we have seen here is the very brutal conduct of a campaign to tear down the leader of the Liberal Party in a most cold and unfeeling way," he told reporters in Sydney just before Treasurer Scott Morrison won the vote to become next prime minister.
"Changing leaders does not mean you can change division in the Liberal Party. You can change leaders but you can't change division."
