Bill Shorten has been elected leader of the Labor party, replacing former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after weeks of campaigning with fellow contender Anthony Albanese.

The federal Opposition now has a new face and form, with Shorten announcing Tanya Plibersek as deputy leader.

The Labor party has been celebrating its new internal election policy, which has for the first time split the vote for leader between rank-and-file members of the party and its traditionally overwhelming union contingent.

Never before has the media and public been brought so far into the fight for party leadership.

Reports since the vote say the union influence is still strong within the party, as is expected, but the renewed transparency could be a sign that Labor is trying to move away from its tarnished image.

Old tarnish was shown in a new light this week by Nicola Roxon.

In a public address on Tuesday night, former attorney-general Nicola Roxon unleashed on former Labor leader and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

She opened fire on: “his disorganization and lack of strategy”, “how terribly he treated some brilliant staff and public servants”, “dysfunctional decision-making”, “rudeness”, “contempt for staff and disrespect for public servants”, and “desire to fix the world's problems”, finally calling the decision to remove him “an act of political bastardry... made possible only because Kevin had been such a bastard himself to too many people.”

Despite ending the tirade by saying that the new Labor leadership was “as close to 'the dream team' as you can get”, it has done little to restore the image of the party as it continues to struggle with accusations of disorganisation and discontent.