"Albo, Albo, Albo."
The cheer from the outgoing deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese's supporters belted through the trade union hall in Sydney as he entered.
The member for Grayndler was there on Tuesday evening to launch his bid for the leadership of the federal Australian Labor Party.
Mr Albanese is competing against outgoing minister and Right faction powerbroker Bill Shorten for the job, the winner to be decided by a vote of rank-and-file members and caucus.
If he wins, Mr ALbanese reckons he can oust the newly-elected Coalition government in one term.
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From the eruption of support in the room, it seems a couple of hundred NSW rank and file members and several senior current and former ALP MPs agree.
Outgoing health minister Tanya Plibersek, former NSW premier Nathan Rees, ALP national president Jenny McAllister and retiring former cabinet minister Greg Combet were among the members at the launch.
Mr Combet, who studied economics with Mr Albanese at Sydney University in the 1980s, told the crowd "he's the right leader for the Labor party in these times."
"When you've just lost an election, you really need to look for ... someone steeped in Labor tradition, someone true to Labor values, someone who'll fight," he said.
"Where else can you look but Anthony Albanese?"
The room lit up as Mr Albanese took the podium, praising the reformed leadership selection process as "opening up... the most significant decision that a political party can make."
He backed himself as being "up for this job", referring to the many portfolios he's held and his challenging role as leader of the House of Representatives in a minority government.
"I have the capacity, I had to deliver Bob Katter and Adam Bandt on the same platter."
Mr Albanese was careful to stick to a "civil debate about ideas, not personalities," agreed to by himself and Mr Shorten.
"(Bill Shorten's) a very good candidate and would make a very good leader of the Labor party," he told the crowd.
Mr Albanese is embarking on a three-city tour over the next three days and will be taking along his three word slogan "Vision. Unity. Strength." as he seeks wider support for his tilt at the ALP's top job.
