Former Labor leader Mark Latham says Bill Shorten needs to do more to take on the entrenched power of the ALP's factions.
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Mr Latham says the Opposition Leader is ''asking the right questions'' on party reform but that more needs to be done.
In a new book to be published on Tuesday, The Political Bubble, Mr Latham argues politics is ''overgrown'', characterised by chronic exaggeration and that politicians are increasingly powerless to control economic events.
The former leader turned Australian Financial Review columnist has also criticised NSW Labor for opposing the sale of electricity poles and wires, a $20 billion plan that Premier Mike Baird will take to the next state election but which NSW Labor leader John Robertson has vowed to oppose.
In an interview to mark the release of his book, Mr Latham said politics needed to be ''downsized'' to make political debate more realistic.
''The electorate is better educated than ever before, people are more financially successful and they see through the paradox that governments promise more and more but can achieve less. The starting point is to make the debate more dinkum,'' he said.
Parties needed to broaden their base, not narrow it, he said, pointing to NSW Labor's decision to vote down a proposal from Senator John Faulkner to give ALP rank and file members a vote in preselecting Senate candidates, a move that would have reduced the power of unions and the factional system.
Mr Latham said reversing the decline in the membership of the ALP lay in democratising decision-making on issues like choosing upper house members.
''He [Shorten] needs to understand that party reform, such as the election of leaders, that's the low-lying fruit, but that doesn't take on control of the factions,'' Mr Latham said.
