A day after losing one of his senators and copping his worst poll result since becoming prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull roused government MPs with an extraordinary personal attack on Labor leader Bill Shorten.
To the cheers and desk-thumping of his colleagues Mr Turnbull labelled the opposition leader a social-climbing sycophant and parasite on taxpayers.
"There was never a union leader in Melbourne that tucked his knees under more billionaires' tables, he lapped it up," Mr Turnbull said during a sharp exchange in parliament.
"He was such a sycophant, a social-climbing sycophant if ever there was one."
A fired-up prime minister didn't hold back, using Mr Shorten's "Mr Harbourside Mansion" reference to accuse the Labor leader of being a parasite who enjoyed drinking champagne with the likes of billionaire Richard Pratt.
"He likes harbourside mansions, he is yearning for one, he is yearning to get into Kirribilli House - because somebody else pays for it," he said.
"Just like he loved knocking back Dick Pratt's Cristal (champagne) and looked forward to living at the expense of the taxpayer, this man is a parasite and has no respect for the taxpayer."
He continued the attack, saying Mr Shorten "sucked up" to Melbourne billionaires on their corporate jets.
"This sycophant, blowing hard in the House of Representatives, sucking hard in the living rooms of Melbourne, what a hypocrite," the prime minister said.
Mr Shorten later brushed off the personal attack, saying he felt sorry for Mr Turnbull.
"The drums are beating in the corridors of Canberra about whether or not he will remain as Liberal leader and I think he is showing pressure," Mr Shorten told ABC TV.
The performance was about appealing to the coalition backbench, he said.
Mr Shorten acknowledged he had been a good friend of the late Mr Pratt who died eight years ago.
But he insisted he was still a people's champion in touch with the cost struggles of raising a family and pointing out he had a mortgage and lived in Moonee Ponds.
"I'm proud of it," he said.
Mr Shorten said he didn't begrudge Mr Turnbull's wealth only his seriously out of touch policies.
At issue is an omnibus bill the government introduced to parliament earlier on Wednesday.
It overhauls the way childcare subsidies are paid, but includes revised welfare cuts including phasing out the annual Family Tax Benefit supplement and making young people wait a month before getting the dole.
As an offset the government will increase fortnightly FTB payments by about $20.
Labor estimates one million families will be affected adversely by the FTB changes.
"This is another version of the Liberal-Nationals version of robbing Peter to pay Paul," Mr Shorten said as he moved his motion.
"How can the prime minister justify ripping family payments out of the pockets of ... families and at the same time propose $50 billion in a tax give away to big business?"
Mr Turnbull chided the Labor leader for ignoring the childcare changes that replace the existing complex regime with a single means and activity tested subsidy.
The greatest beneficiaries were lower-income families, he said, citing a family on an income of $60,000 would only be paying about $15 a day for care for each child.
