Bill Shorten has again indicated he'll try and twist the arm of former foreign minister Julie Bishop to take on an ambassadorial role if Labor wins the election.
Ms Bishop is retiring from politics after failing to win the Liberal leadership last year and has repeatedly said she will be pursuing private sector roles in her new life.
But with Joe Hockey - another refugee from Liberal leadership battles - indicating he'll leave his job as Australia's ambassador to the US when his term is up later this year, some have suggested Ms Bishop might change her mind.
"She said she wants to work in the private sector but I will certainly be talking to her," Mr Shorten told a business breakfast in Perth on Wednesday.
The Labor leader said Ms Bishop and his foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong had a good relationship and the Liberal Party had made a mistake in not choosing the former as their leader.
"What is it that is so hard about Liberal men to vote for Liberal women for positions of leadership? I won't make that mistake with Julie," he said.
But he wouldn't categorically say if Ms Bishop might be on his shortlist for the Washington job.
"I''m not going to put a name against a label because we haven't even won."
Mr Shorten reiterated his view that Australia needs to make better use of its retired political leaders rather than "pushing them on the scrap heap", naming Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and John Howard as others he thought had more to contribute.
