Federally, Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles have taken over as leader and deputy from the two-term team of Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek, who had no practical choice but to stand down after the loss of an election that most pundits believed was theirs for the taking.

In Macquarie Street, the party has turned to two women - Jodi McKay and Yasmin Catley - to lead it out of a wilderness that's as much of its own making as it is a result of successful Coalition administration.

While premiers Barry O'Farrell, Mike Baird and now Gladys Berejiklian have led competent governments, their regular tactic, whenever in trouble, has been to remind the electorate of the corruption and maladministration that characterised Labor in the years leading up to its 2011 loss of power.

Federally, the ALP opposition has to work out how to best respond to the simple, hip-pocket-nerve message delivered by a relentlessly upbeat Scott Morrison.

Labor went into the federal election believing it had a comprehensive and equitable set of policies that had been road-tested over six years of opposition, only to find that few outside the "Canberra bubble" had been listening. Recovering from electoral rejection, the opposition must now work out which policies to keep or tweak, and which ones to junk. Having entered parliament in 1996, Mr Albanese has a wealth of experience in the sorts of portfolios - transport, regional development and infrastructure - that keep politicians in touch with everyday people. It is these "quiet Australians", to use the prime minister's electorally successful description, who Labor will have to convince in providing a principled but popular alternative to the Coalition's economic message.

At the state level, Labor is facing off against a seasoned Coalition leadership team with two relatively inexperienced MPs. Ms McKay has completed two parliamentary terms over 12 years, while Ms Catley entered parliament just four years ago.

Still, as intelligent and confident women, they will have no fear of Ms Berejiklian and her sometimes haughty Liberal deputy, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. It will be game on when parliament resumes at the end of this month.

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