Aston by-election gives Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a chance to slam Peter ... trends now
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken a dig at Liberal leader Peter Dutton following his party's shock defeat at the Aston by-election.
In a historic win, Labor's Mary Doyle snatched the once blue-ribbon seat in Melbourne's eastern suburbs from Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell on Saturday.
The loss of a former Liberal stronghold is a devastating blow to the party which is reeling from a string of defeats having been recently turned out of office in NSW following the state election last Saturday.
It represents the first by-election win by a federal government in over a century.
Mr Albanese celebrated the surprise win with Ms Doyle in Melbourne on Sunday but managed to take a moment to blame Mr Dutton for the upset.
The Opposition leader has since broken his silence and revealed his plans for the party's future as speculation swirled he would step down as leader.
It was all smiles for Labor after the Aston by-election Mary Doyle (pictured left) claimed the seat securing a historic win for the government of Anthony Albanese (pictured right)
'After ten years of being part of the problem, Peter Dutton now fails to be a part of the solution,' Mr Albanese said.
Mr Albanese said that he agreed with the comments made by Mr Dutton during a press conference following the by-election upset on Saturday night.
'I thought it was a moment of honesty from Peter Dutton when he said out loud what we have seen played out over the one year since he became leader of the Liberal party,' he said.
'He said his priority was just keeping the Liberal party together.
'Well Australians don't want any major party that is only focused on themselves.
'What they want is a government and an internal government that's focused on their needs and their issues.'
Mr Dutton told ABC program Insiders on Sunday morning that he had no intention of stepping down as leader despite many pundits saying the by-election was a gauge of his performance.
'We have a lot of work to do, I accept responsibility as I'm the leader of the party,' the coalition chief said.
'Now, the question is how we rebuild from here, the policies that we have, the brand rebuilding that we need to do in Victoria.
'I can tell you it makes me more determined to rebuild this party and be in a winning position by 2025.'
Mr Dutton said the Liberals' fundamental values would not change despite conceding the Liberal brand had 'suffered terribly' in Victoria over a long period of time and the party had failed the test set by voters in Aston.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton (pictured right) is set to have his leadership come under question after Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell (pictured left) was defeated in the Aston by-election
'I think in recent years the Liberal Party has allowed itself to be defined by our opponents and I think it's time for us to take that back,' he said.
'To stand up for what we believe in, whether it's trendy or not, and some of that, I believe, is what the Australian public demand, particularly in our
