Bill Shorten's deputy has hosed down suggestions Labor losses in looming by-elections could spark leadership tensions for the opposition leader.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tanya Plibersek said the party isn't contemplating defeat in the Tasmanian seat of Braddon or Longman in Queensland.
Despite polling showing Labor would be performing better if frontbencher Anthony Albanese was in charge, Ms Plibersek warned against the party looking inwards.
"The idea that what we need to do is start staring at out own navels, people will not forgive us for that," she told ABC radio on Thursday.
Mr Albanese has "absolutely" guaranteed he would not challenge Mr Shorten for the leadership, and said Labor wasn't concerned about internal matters.
"The only thing I'm interested in is being a minister in a Labor government that will be led by Bill Shorten," he said in Queensland on Thursday.
The government would buck a 98-year drought by picking up a seat from Labor on Saturday.
In Longman, preferences from One Nation's candidate Matthew Stephen will be crucial to determine whether the Liberal National Party's Trevor Ruthenberg can defeat Labor's Susan Lamb.
Ms Plibersek attacked Mr Stephen's leader, Pauline Hanson, saying she was hurting the people she claimed to represent.
"It's extraordinary people think Pauline Hanson's on their side," the deputy Labor leader said.
"She may as well be in the Liberal Party because she is voting at every opportunity to hurt the same people the Liberal Party hurt."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Mr Shorten are both hitting the campaign trail on Thursday as they try to win over undecided voters.
Mr Shorten is due to travel to Tasmania, where Labor is also in danger of losing to the government.
In one poll, Liberal candidate Brett Whiteley was slightly ahead of Labor's Justine Keay, but in another, the former Labor MP who resigned over her dual citizenship had the edge.
But the major parties are fighting a thick fog of disillusion and disengagement from a public fed-up with process.
Ms Plibersek concedes people are growing tired of the long-running campaigns.
"I know people are driven crazy by by-elections. Nobody wanted to go through this, I can tell you," she said.
The South Australian seat of Mayo is expected to be reclaimed by the Centre Alliance's Rebekha Sharkie, while the other by-election seats of Perth and Fremantle are expected to remain in Labor hands.
Australian Associated Press