Stop the leaks could be the new mantra for Labor's two leadership contenders.
Anthony Albanese and Bill Shorten were both fired up on Sunday, after Fairfax reported internal Labor party polling that showed the switch from Julia Gillard to Kevin Rudd saved at least 15 Labor seats at the federal election.
"Circumstances such as today's leaked polling aren't helpful at all," Mr Albanese told ABC TV.
"I was a party official some time ago; there was never any leaking of internal polling.
"It simply has to stop."
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He said nothing productive could come from "going over all the entrails" of who said or did what over the past three years of party tensions.
Mr Shorten agreed it was time to move on from the Rudd-Gillard era.
"We have to rule a line under Labor leaking on talking about what's happened in the past," he told Network Ten.
The two men are travelling around the country ahead of the Labor members' ballot for the party's leadership, which opens on Tuesday.
The pair will hold three debates over the next week, in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Caucus votes on the leadership on October 10 and the final result will be announced on October 13.
Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese defended their past decisions and loyalty to Labor leaders.
Mr Albanese raised the issue of loyalty in the past week, noting he'd served both Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard loyally - although he supported Mr Rudd in all the leadership contests.
"I defended the government, whether it be under Kevin Rudd or Julia Gillard, each and every day to the best of my ability," he said on Sunday.
"I was never shy about doing that."
He said everyone knew about the destabilisation going on during Ms Gillard's leadership but he'd never been a part of it.
Pressed on whether he could have done something to stop it, Mr Albanese said he concentrated on doing his job as a minister and Leader of the House.
Mr Shorten had a high-profile role in both changes of prime minister.
The shift from Julia Gillard to Kevin Rudd was the hardest thing he'd been involved in, he said.
"I believe ALP members can trust me to always take the tough decisions in the best interest of the Labor Party and indeed the nation," he said.
