Lenore Taylor, political editor

theguardian.com, Sunday 8 September 2013

Kevin Rudd's deputy PM says he is undecided about whether to seek leadership, as is the other major contender, Bill Shorten

Albanese is understood to be genuinely undecided about whether to stand. Photograph: Stefan Postles/Getty Images

The former deputy prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is likely to be the next Labor leader if he decides to seek the job, but along with the other major contender, Bill Shorten, he has yet to make a final decision.

Labor is determined to avoid public dissent over the leadership and, if possible, also to avoid a contest. A contest would trigger the new election procedures introduced by Kevin Rudd to give the party’s grassroots joint power with the parliamentary caucus in leadership decisions and would take almost a month to deliver a decision.

Albanese’s position is strengthened by the support of both the right and the left in New South Wales and the fact the left has dominated grassroots ballots for party organisational positions. During Saturday night’s election broadcasts Albanese was publicly endorsed by former frontbenchers Greg Combet and Stephen Smith.

But he is understood to be genuinely undecided about whether to stand.

Shorten, who has long been touted as a future Labor leader, has also said he is undecided but would stand if there was no other contender. He has been publicly backed by former prime minister Bob Hawke and has strong support in the union movement. It is understood that if Albanese decides to stand Shorten will not contest the position.

Other names mentioned include NSW frontbenchers Tony Burke and Chris Bowen.

‘‘I didn’t think about post [-election] scenarios. There’s time to do that now,’’ Albanese told the Ten Network on Sunday.

“I’ll be happy to serve whoever the caucus chooses and be loyal to them. The fact is we have a number of talented people in the Labor party caucus: Bill Shorten, Tony Burke, Chris Bowen, Tanya Plibersek.”

Shorten told ABC’s Insiders program: “I am genuinely undecided. I have a couple of criteria. One is my family, I've been away from them a great deal. A decision of this importance, I have to talk to them … I believe that this process will be ... marked by the lessons of the past. No rancour, no external discussions, no division but rather, how do we be the best opposition and keep the faith with the people who believe in the Labor party and what we can do in the future?”

Both Shorten and Albanese said they were determined that Labor should not allow the ascendant Coalition to rewrite Labor’s record in office to erase its achievements, as the Howard government did for the Hawke-Keating era, and that Labor should not walk away from its key beliefs.

“I recognise the verdict of the people. But what I also know is that we will not allow the conservatives to steal the last five years and pretend they didn't happen,” Shorten said.

Albanese had a similar message.

He said: “I was elected after 1996. One of the mistakes I think we made was to walk away from some of Labor's legacy in terms of the Hawke-Keating governments. I believe history will judge the Rudd and Gillard periods very favourably – particularly our economic record. Tony Abbott says that there is a budget emergency. The truth is he inherits a strong economy with low inflation, low interest rates, high jobs growth, high workforce participation, less industrial disputes, and a AAA credit rating.”

And both men insisted Labor would vote against the repeal of Labor’s carbon pricing scheme, something Tony Abbott has said would be like “committing political suicide twice”.

“Well, we are absolutely going to defend taking action on climate change,” Albanese said. “I could not – I could not look my son in the eye and walk away from taking action on climate change. Some things are absolutely vital, not just for now, but for future generations. There is a cost to carbon. There is a cost. The question is: do we pass it on to future generations or do we, as this generation, take responsibility? I believe we have to do that. We have supported an emissions trading scheme for a very long time. And certainly I was elected on a mandate again yesterday with a swing to me on the issue of taking action on climate change.”

Shorten also said Labor would stick with its core belief that “there should be a price on carbon pollution'' and had a “'mandate from its supporters to be true to its values''.

The Labor national secretary, George Wright, said once Labor made its leadership decision, it had to stick with it.

"Once the leadership of the party is settled, I would hope – regardless of the rules – that once we settle that, we take that leader through to the next election,” he said. “We need to select a leader and we all need to get behind that leader."

Albanese holds the inner Sydney seat of Grayndler and is a fanatical supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He is married to former NSW deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt, who sits in the NSW parliament. They have one son.

Albanese voted for Kevin Rudd in both his unsuccessful and successful challenges against Julia Gillard but continued to work in Gillard’s cabinet in between before becoming deputy prime minister when Rudd returned to the leadership.

Anthony Albanese likely to be next Labor leader, if he wants to be | World news | theguardian.com