With the election campaign about to formally get underway, Mr Shorten has targeted his repsonse to Tuesday night's budget on the traditional Labor focuses of health and education, as well as infrastructure and giving the less-well-off a hand up, rather than what he says is the government's approach of helping the wealthy.
Bill Shorten wants to be Australia's new Prime Minister in slightly less than two months.
To that end, he's repeating his charge that incumbent Malcolm Turnbull is one of the old- not much different to the man he replaced in the top job, Tony Abbott.
"This budget was meant to be Malcolm Turnbull's justification for rolling Tony Abbott. After Tuesday night, Australians are left to wonder why he bothered. The same 80 billion dollars of cuts to schools and hospitals- still in the budget. The same cuts to working and middle-class families- still in this budget. The same cuts to Medicare, to childcare, to aged care, to paid parental leave, to pensioners and carers- still in this budget."
The opposition leader is trying to balance a message of fiscal responsibility with spending money on areas of concern that he says the government has cut too much from.
He says he can provide $71 billion of improvements to the budget bottom line by the end of this decade.
He says Labor supports the government's measures on bracket creep and tax cuts for small business.
But he says the government is also giving a hand to millionaires and big business that they don't need.
The government has accused Mr Shorten of engaging in class warfare by saying that.
Mr Shorten prefers to present those views in a different light.
"It is not class war for Labor to speak up on behalf of everyone that this government has forgotten and betrayed. Women, young people, pensioners, carers, veterans."
He's disparaged the government's superannuation changes as chaotic.
He's also emphasised that he believes economic growth and fairness go hand-in-hand...and revived the spectre of rise in the GST rate under a federal coalition government as the kind of unfairness he would prevent.
"There is nothing fair, though, about a 15 per cent GST on everything. And we remain completely opposed to it. And if Australia doesn't want a 15 per cent GST, the only way to guarantee that is a Labor government after July the 2nd."
Mr Shorten has gone on the attack on the issue of climate change- painting it as one of economic opportunity as well as environmental responsibility.
And for Mr Shorten - an opportunity to score a personal point against Mr Turnbull.
"Taking real action on climate change will create new jobs. It'll attract new international investment, and power our industries and services. Advocating climate action is hard, and running a scare campaign against it is easy. You should know that, Mr Turnbull, you've done both of those things. You can't trust action on climate change to a government controlled by climate sceptics."
Not that that was the end of the barbs at the man whose job Mr Shorten hopes to take.
Mr Shorten has promised a new $10 billion infrastructure funding facility.
He says, on infrastructure, Mr Turnbull is all image, no substance.
"Instead of taking selfies on the train, we'll get new projects underway. Nation-building, not ego-boosting!"
But one issue where Mr Shorten says Australia as a whole needs more substance is on the issue of what he called the "justice gap".
He says there are many Australians who need to be better served - not just financially, but morally.
"It is wrong that we live in a country that is better at sending young Aboriginal men to jail than helping them finish Year 12. We must work to deliver redress for the survivors of institutional child abuse, who've shown such incredible courage. We must eliminate the scourge of family violence from our society, once and for all. And Labor will ensure women are safe at home, and supported in the courts, by putting back the funding that this government's cut from community legal centres."
But Mr Shorten saved some of his strongest rhetoric for the traditional Labor concerns of health and education.
He's foreshadowed making Medicare one the primary issues in the election campaign.
"Make no mistake: the 2nd of July will be a referendum on the future of Medicare. In the past three years, the Liberals have cut Medicare. They have taxed Medicare. And in this budget, it only gets worse for medicare and the Australians who depend upon it."
Mr Shorten has pledged to legislate to protect Medicare early in his first term in office.
He's also pledged to provide a more level playing field for first homeowners.
And he's interwoven his personal story into his pledge on education.
"As the son of a teacher, as a father of three, and as Prime Minister, I will ensure every child in every school gets every opportunity for a great, world-class education."
Mr Shorten's speech was well received by his Labor colleagues and supporters in the House of Representatives.
Now, the challenge of selling his vision for Australia to the people of Australia in a long election campaign begins.
