A senior member of Labor's Left faction says cabinet needs to show more solidarity for both Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her predecessor Kevin Rudd.
NSW senator Doug Cameron hit out at the Minister for Regional Development, Simon Crean, for saying on Monday Ms Gillard should confront Mr Rudd over ongoing leadership speculation.
Senator Cameron said it was not "one of Simon's greatest moments" and called for the cabinet and all Labor MPs to calm things down.
But he said Mr Rudd, who the senator backed in the 2010 leadership ballot, should not be sacked as foreign minister.
"If it's good enough for Simon Crean to get some flexibility because Simon is a former leader, then I think people should have a bit of give and take with a former prime minister," he said on Sky News on Tuesday night.
"I think that some people should actually reflect a bit on the good things that Kevin Rudd has done.
"We have to make sure that we stop running these character attacks on Kevin Rudd."
He said the prime minister had "lead in her saddlebags" because of the way she came to the job but that was just something Labor had to deal with.
Senator Cameron said while there was some inevitability to a leadership showdown once ministers like Mr Crean had begun calling for it, he did not support the move because of the further damage it would do to the party.
He said Labor just needed some discipline and Ms Gillard had his support.
"She's smart, she's tough and she's effective and that's what we need.
"I want the Labor Party to win the next election and that means we have to be disciplined."
Ms Gillard is confident she has majority support in caucus, while Mr Rudd - who is overseas for foreign policy talks but will return on the weekend - says a challenge is not "in prospect".
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