Mr Shorten last week announced a plan to introduce one of the boldest taxation changes in recent years Australia, targeting tax rebates for excess imputation credits paid to individuals and superannuation funds.

Naturally, the announcement led to howls of protest from seniors groups, in particular, and plenty in Canberra were left scratching their heads wondering why Mr Shorten would announce such a contentious plan just days before a by-election in the Melbourne seat of Batman.

However, the question of whether ending the rebates is good policy or not is probably beyond the nuanced reckoning of most Australians. It is one to be decided by the economists.

But the question of whether it is good politics or not will be decided by the voters, and already the signs are promising for Mr Shorten and the Labor Party.

The predicted backlash in Batman last weekend did not eventuate and Labor held the seat with an increased majority.

Labor will be aware that the tax change will cost them votes but they will also be aware that most (not all) self-funded retirees would already vote Conservative so their votes were lost anyway.

The question, then, is how many Labor voters will be turned off by the policy – and is that number less than the votes it could potentially pick up?

And that’s where the real shrewdness of the plan comes in. The Batman election was held before Labor got to announce the crucial second part of the tax change – that is, what it intends to do with the billions it says the end of rebates will claw back in government revenue.

As we get closer to the next federal election, expect Mr Shorten to unveil another major tax announcement – this time offering tax cuts to middle income earners, paid for by the imputations credits rebate.

It will be a popular move, and one that will be hard to resist for families whose immediate finances are a greater concern to them than their superannuation income.

That is clever politics, and it could be a move that helps Mr Shorten finally find himself in The Lodge.