"I think now Labor has to probably dump these policies,move on,and look at the sort of policies of fairness and redistribution in a different way,"he told the ABC on Monday.
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Former trade minister Craig Emerson said the loss redefined how oppositions should operate.
"In a perverse way I think the public wants you to be honest,but not too honest,"he said."But I don't think a political party should say we lost,therefore we should dump all our policies."
The cost of tax refunds for franking credits are set to blow out from $4.4 billion this year to $7.1 billion a year by 2029,costing $58 billion over a decade,creating a revenue dilemma for whoever is in government.
The policy was dismantled through a"retiree tax"campaign run by Liberal MP Tim Wilson and the founder of Wilson Asset Management,Geoff Wilson.
Mr Wilson toldThe Sydney Morning HeraldandThe Agehe would not have run against the policy if it had been grandfathered or capped at $10,000.
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"It wouldn't have had the passion,"he said."You just would have had rich people at the inquiry,it would have become a non-issue."
Labor leadership contender Anthony Albanese said on Sunday he would"articulate not just how we share wealth but how we create wealth",in a veiled criticism of Labor's tax redistribution platform.
He went further on Monday,stating on Adelaide's 5AA radio the franking credits policy"impacted on people's hip pockets,and some of those,of course,weren't very wealthy people".
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said misinformation and Labor's large agenda had confused voters,with the tax on franking credits - used by retirees to fund their retirement and hand down to their children- often tied to claims Labor was plotting an"inheritance tax"or a"death tax".
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Pressure is growing on Labor's economic team to account for why voters did not respond to their platform.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen is considering contesting for the Labor leadership,but some in the party believe he is too closely tied to the party's franking credit and negative gearing changes.
"He would have made a fabulous treasurer but he tried to be treasurer from opposition,"said a Labor source.
Mr Bowen said there would be a full review of what went wrong."Every new election is a blank slate,"he said.