PM has credibility issue: Labor MP

Tasmanian Labor MP Dick Adams says Prime Minister Julia Gillard has a credibility issue with some voters.

Speculation is continuing that Ms Gillard will be replaced as Labor leader with support reportedly growing inside the party for Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd returning to the top job.

Mr Adams, who represents the Tasmanian seat of Lyons, says while the prime minister has support, not all voters are convinced.

"She has a bit of a credibility issue with some of the decisions that she's made," Mr Adams told ABC News 24.

"That's a message for her that she has to get our there that her credibility is sound."

He said the government had not been able to communicate its achievements to the electorate in an effective way.

"I think Cabinet has to take some responsibility for the message delivery and how their leadership is coming through for government and they need to look at themselves in a pretty hard way from that perspective," he said.

"All these things that weren't spent in the last government are being spent by this government to position Australia into the future.

"If you can't get that message out, yeah, somebody's got to take that responsibility and that's got to be done."

He believed that the leadership issues were being "blown up" and said nobody had rung him about it.

However, he said Labor heavyweights would be looking at the current polling which showed Labor a long way behind the coalition.

"Polling that is being done by the political parties, they're always the polls that you make political decisions about.

"And the machinery of the parties act on those and I'm sure my colleagues in that role will be looking at those and making decisions."

When asked if Ms Gillard had his 100 per cent support, Mr Adams replied that he supported the leader.

"If I change my mind I would tell the prime minister that she doesn't have my support.

"I will support the leader. I don't believe it's time to change the leader."

Finance minister Penny Wong was unequivocal in her support for the embattled prime minister.

Speaking in Adelaide, Senator Wong said Ms Gillard had made tough calls and done the right things by Australians.

"Julia Gillard is the right person to lead the Labor Party, and the right person to be the prime minister of this country," Senator Wong told reporters.

The Finance Minister denied the prime minister had a credibility issue.

"The person with the credibility problem is Tony Abbott, who went around the country every week last year saying he was going to deliver tax cuts without a carbon price, and then walked away from that in his first economic speech of 2012."

Caucus members will meet in Canberra on Sunday for a pre-parliament strategy day followed by a barbecue at The Lodge.

Federal parliament's first sitting of 2012 will be on Tuesday.