Latham accuses Shorten of 'flimflam' style

Former federal Labor leader Mark Latham has slammed Bill Shorten's leadership style, accusing the opposition leader of only taking on easy "flimflam" issues.

Mr Latham says voters regard the opposition leader as a non-event, giving people nothing worthwhile to believe in.

"He only takes on issues that are easy: flimflam such as gay marriage, indigenous constitutional recognition and the republic," Mr Latham writes in the Australian Financial Review on Thursday.

Un-named Labor MPs reportedly told The Australian they were concerned Mr Shorten had taken on the worst aspects of Kevin Rudd's leadership style, obsessing over daily news cycles with little thought to strategy.

But Labor frontbencher Mark Dreyfus, who was a minister under Mr Rudd, defended Mr Shorten.

"We are in a competitive position," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"If you compare that with the performance of some past opposition leaders, particularly after a severe election loss, I think he's done a fantastic job."