Senior federal Labor MP Tony Burke says he'd like to lead his party one day but he's not ready yet.
Former ministers Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese have emerged as frontrunners to take on the leadership of the ALP in opposition.
The former immigration minister has declined to endorse either candidate but says they both have what it takes to be prime minister.
He acknowledged he too has aspirations to lead Labor.
"I'm not in any rush in any of this," he said.
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"I also know I'm not ready for leadership in any way," Mr Burke added, pointing out that he's only 43.
"At some point, it's something that I'd aspire to."
He also gave an insight into a dilemma facing Labor in choosing its next leader.
"Some people are talking about strategies where you put someone there for a while and then you switch them later," Mr Burke said.
But he doesn't favour this option.
"After everything we've been through in the last few years, any strategy that begins with the principle that you're going to switch leaders is a bad strategy," he said.
He also pleaded with his fellow Labor MPs to heed the message delivered to them in the election and stop talking about themselves.
"Let's not have an election night where we all say we understand the message was that we've got to stop the infighting and then two days later we're having arguments like this," he said.
Former Labor ministers Craig Emerson, Greg Combet and Stephen Smith have called for Kevin Rudd to retire from parliament.
Mr Burke acknowledged he too had criticisms of Mr Rudd's first term as prime minister but says he has "absolutely no complaints" about his leadership style after Mr Rudd came back as party leader this year.
