Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd. Will they square off at the election? Picture. Gary Ramage Source: News Limited
KEVIN Rudd will take his "people power" leadership campaign into must-win western Sydney seats later this week, as the Labor MP's main backers map out a battleplan to beat Tony Abbott.
As key Labor "faceless men" - including South Australian powerbroker Don Farrell - continue to back Julia Gillard, crossbench MPs have warned they will tear up their deal with the Government if the Prime Minister is ousted.
But Mr Rudd's supporters believe there is "growing momentum" within the Labor Caucus to dump Ms Gillard, who yesterday made a brief semi-public appearance at her Sydney harbourside residence.
With western Sydney shaping as a wipe-out for Labor, Mr Rudd will step up his push to win back the leadership when he visits a number of electorates on Thursday and Friday. These will include the seat of McMahon, held by former cabinet minister Chris Bowen, who has been tipped to become treasurer if Mr Rudd returns to power.
It is expected Mr Rudd will visit around three electorates, all of them expected to fall to the Coalition on September 14, based on current Labor polling.
Mr Rudd's spokesman was tight-lipped about plans for the surge into western Sydney, which will coincide with a trip by Ms Gillard to Western Australia.
The pressure remains on Victorian frontbencher Bill Shorten to declare his support for a change of leadership, a move that would almost certainly end Ms Gillard's time in office.
But Mr Shorten will have to defy the leadership of his former union, the Australian Workers' Union, which remains strongly behind the PM.
Senator Farrell, who was instrumental in the June 2010 toppling of Mr Rudd as leader, also remains "rusted on" to the PM.
There have been suggestions that Senator Farrell's close ally and head of the "Shoppies" union, Joe de Bruyn, was softening in his previous iron-clad support for Ms Gillard.
Meanwhile, key crossbench MP Tony Windsor has made it clear a change of leader would also mean the end of his deal with the Government.
"If there is a change of leader, there is no deal," the MP for New England told News Limited.
"The agreement is with her. It is not a transferable document."
The veteran MP, who will take on Nationals' MP Barnaby Joyce at the election, said he did not "personally" believe Labor will ditch Ms Gillard.
Another independent MP, Tasmanian Andrew Wilkie, said he could work with Mr Rudd if he returned to the leadership.
"I have a satisfactory relationship with both Gillard and Rudd. It's neither here nor there to me," he said.
Backers of Ms Gillard on Monday publicly played down talk of a leadership showdown, ACT parliamentary secretary Andrew Leigh claiming "hand on heart" that he had not discussed the issue with any of his colleagues.
One of the PM's strongest allies, Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor, also played down leadership speculation, but admitted the leadership chatter was distracting for voters.
"Nobody of course wants to see a government talking about itself," he said.
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