Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has chuckled at a suggestion that he should run again for the Labor leadership during a warm welcome in his Brisbane electorate.
About 150 well-wishers gathered at the Bulimba Senior Citizens Centre on Wednesday to greet Mr Rudd, who left The Lodge in Canberra on Tuesday night and flew home to Brisbane.
Children holding up signs saying "we love you Kevin" greeted the member for Griffith, who arrived at the centre for a morning tea accompanied by his daughter Jessica.
"It is so good to be back home," Mr Rudd told reporters after the morning tea, where he was hugged by supporters.
"As I said inside, it's a real feeling of community. They are good people"
Mr Rudd also told the gathering of local residents he was happy to wake up on Wednesday to the distinctive sound of the rain on the
roof of his Norman Park home.
He assured them of his intention to recontest the election, after being dumped last week as Labor leader and replaced by Julia
Gillard.
Mr Rudd's friend, Wilma Ward, 81, who helped with his Kevin 07 campaign, said it was nice to share a cuppa with her old friend.
"He assured us he was standing again and we are very pleased. He was in very good spirits."
Ms Ward said she'd known Mr Rudd for 20 years and helped get him elected in Griffith.
She said she was disappointed by the way he was ousted but glad to have her local member back in the neighbourhood.
"He's a gem."
Mr Rudd, who was a regular at Bulimba coffee shops before he became prime minister, later took a stroll through the suburb and paused at the soccer ground where he used to take his son.
Along the way, locals stopped him to offer thanks for his hard work.
He chuckled when one voter suggested he might take another tilt at the nation's top job in the future.
Mr Rudd did not address the media.
