Labor is on a mission to reclaim rural Australia, senior opposition figure Anthony Albanese has declared.

The inner-city MP used a speech in Wagga Wagga to outline Labor’s pitch to the bush, focusing on schools, high-speed rail, fibre-to-the-premises NBN, mobile phone coverage and climate change.

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He conceded Labor hadn’t done enough to gather country support in the past.

Recent changes within the party had developed a greater focus on the bush, which in previous generations was a stronghold for the ALP.

“In the forthcoming federal election, and in the years that follow, Labor must seek to reclaim the bush,” Mr Albanese said.

“That will not be easy.”