Federal Liberal MP Peter Dutton is seeking to change his public image ahead of a vote on Monday to confirm the leader of the Liberal Party and the next opposition leader.
Mr Dutton has formally nominated for the leadership, but he would not speculate on who the deputy leader could be.
Mr Dutton is also attempting to soften his image, saying while he would not be changing who he was he wanted people to be able to see his "complete character".
"Not just what they've seen through sound grabs when I'm talking about boats or all sorts of different issues," he told Nine radio.
"You've got to be a tough person to be the defence minister in this country, you have to be a tough minister to be in charge of ASIO and the Australian Federal Police and Border Force.
"But I've been elected in my seat eight times now and locals who've seen me and interacted with me, I think see a more complete picture and I hope I can show that side as well and people can draw their own conclusions."
Announcing his nomination on social media, Mr Dutton said Australia needed a leader who would not buckle in hard times.
The Liberal nominee said he'd had tough jobs as a government minister and formerly a police officer, but that he also had a softer side.
"Most people have only seen that side of me," he wrote.
Earlier, Mr Dutton also appeared to try and differentiate himself from former prime minister Scott Morrison when it came his religiosity.
"I believe in God but I don't attend church on a regular basis, so I'd be a failed Catholic as Tony Abbott would point out, but I don't seek to make that part of who I am," he said.
Mr Morrison was very public about the depth of his Pentecostal Christian faith and regularly attends church.
Yesterday, ousted Liberal MP Dave Sharma said voters in his Sydney electorate believed Mr Morrison was "too religious".
Mr Dutton said as Opposition Leader he would seek to "bring the party together" and restore its position as a "broad church" with voices from both the left and right, but that at the end of the day the Liberal Party was centre-right and would not become "Labor lite".
The 51-year-old conservative hard head has been the centre of his fair share of controversy during his more than 20 years in parliament.
In 2015, he was caught on a "hot mic" making a joke about "water lapping at the door" of Pacific Island nations because of climate change and the next year he made inflammatory remarks about refugees' literacy levels.
He was also the only opposition frontbencher in 2008 to boycott then prime minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations and personally voted no "and encouraged people to do the same" to same-sex marriage in the 2017 postal vote.
Ultimately, Mr Dutton voted in favour of same-sex marriage in parliament after majority support for it was made clear by the postal vote.
Former environment Minister Sussan Ley is the frontrunner for the deputy leadership position.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Sky News that he hoped he could work cooperatively with Mr Dutton.
"I congratulate him if that is the decision of the Liberal Party," Mr Albanese said.
"The leader of the opposition, I know, isn't an easy task.
Mr Dutton said he respected and had a good relationship with the Prime Minister, and had been able to work pragmatically with him in the past.
Plibersek apologises for Voldemort comment
Mr Dutton confirmed that senior Labor MP Tanya Plibersek had apologised "to her credit" for likening him to Voldemort, the villain from the Harry Potter series.
Ms Plibersek made the comments on Nine Radio when asked about Mr Dutton becoming opposition leader.
"I think there will be a lot of children who have watched a lot of Harry Potter films who will be very frightened of what they are seeing on TV at night, that's for sure," she had said.
"I am saying he looks a bit like Voldemort and we will see whether he can do what he promised he would do when he was last running for leader, which is smile more."
Mr Dutton told Nine Radio it was "water off a duck's back".
"You read that sort of stuff online and it's sort of the sewer of Twitter… I just don't think you need to be nasty and mean," he said.
He went on to joke that his "head's made for radio" and when his teenage sons give him grief for being bald he reminds them "that I had more hair than they did at 16 and 17" and that they may have the same genes as him.
"I'm not the prettiest bloke on the block but I'm hopeful I'll be pretty effective."
Mr Albanese said Ms Plibersek's remarks were not acceptable and she did the right thing by apologising.
"I do want to change the way that politics functions in this country," he said.
"People do have conflict fatigue."
Morrison looking forward to being 'quiet Australian'
In his first interview since losing the election, former prime minister Scott Morrison says he is looking forward to supporting the new leadership of the Liberal Party.
While he would not comment on who was running to be leader, Mr Morrison told Nine Radio he would support whoever was elected "and the direction they’re taking".
Mr Morrison also said that he was looking forward to "going back to being a 'quiet Australian'" in his local community in Sydney and joked about now doing the drop off and pick-up at school.
"You accept the result and you move on,” Mr Morrison said about Saturday’s defeat.
"You live every day and you take every opportunity you can to achieve what you’re looking to achieve for the country.
"I leave not with regrets but with a great sense of gratitude."
The former prime minister said his faith and his family had allowed him to keep a level head.
