FORMER Labor leader Mark Latham has accused Kevin Rudd of being a ''lunatic'' and a ''once-in-a-century egomaniac''.

It comes after the ousted PM took to television this morning to again accuse his colleagues of a "culture of defeat", telling them now was a time to play for victory, not plan for defeat.

That prompted his former colleague Latham to say Rudd was addicted to the media even though it damaged his party and his image and the party should have expelled him already.

``Rudd is an egomaniac, Rudd is addicted to media attention,'' Latham told 2UE.

``He's not acting rational.

``If he ever wanted to get the Labor leadership back the thing he needed to do post 2010, he needed to play the team game, to hit the deck, to not be obvious, to not be destabilising Gillard.

``And eventually a desperate party would have come to him, back to him, thinking he was an electoral prospect for them for this year's election and he'd be reasonable in copping his ousting in 2010 instead of being a maniac on every front.''

Mr Latham said Mr Rudd was deliberately sabotaging Ms Gillard by again taking to the media spotlight.

``He is a lunatic ... this bloke's nuts, this bloke is certifiable,'' he said.

Earlier, Mr Rudd said Julia Gillard is "showing very strong leadership under difficult circumstances" but again refused to unequivocally rule out ever retaking the top job.

He also accused Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of arrogance for revealing he had already scripted his election victory speech.

But during the segment on Sunrise, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey asked Mr Rudd why he was so interested in talking about Mr Abbott.

"Why isn't he saying Julia Gillard's doing a fantastic job and that Labor has a real plan for Australia's future?"

Mr Rudd answered: "Well the Prime Minister is showing very strong leadership in difficult circumstances of the Australian Labor Party and she has my support."

But he ducked a directive by Mr Hockey to repeat he would "under no circumstances" return to the Labor leadership.

"My position on that, in terms of what I said earlier this year, remains unchanged," Mr Rudd said.

"And what I said last year, when there was a leadership ballot in February last year, remains unchanged as well.

"I'm here to fight the fight for Labor."

Mr Rudd, who is in Geelong today campaigning with local Labor MPs, said it was "not the time to start constructing alibis for defeat".

"This is the time to implement a strategy for victory."

"We are perfectly capable of advancing a strong argument to the Australian people as to why they should not put Mr Abbott into the Lodge," he said.

The comments follow bad polling for the Government this week and revelations that at least two Labor MPs are packing up their Parliamentary offices in preparation for defeat.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare today insisted the ALP leadership speculation is ``done and dusted''.

Mr Clare denied anything should be read into his comments in the media and that former prime ministers were always on the television.

``The issue is done and dusted and the election is going to be between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott,'' Mr Clare said on the Nine Network.

He admitted the party was behind the Coalition ahead of the September 14 election, but reiterated Mr Rudd's sentiments that the party should not give up.

``We have got to band together and fight hard in this election. We're behind, there's no doubt about that, but there's a long way to go,'' he said.

``Every Labor MP will fight hard to win their seat because there's a lot at stake.''

Finance Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Rudd's comments, and dismissed suggestions the former PM was again lobbying for the leadership.

``I take Kevin at his word and I watched that interview and I thought it was great that he was out there campaigning for Labor,'' Senator Wong told ABC television.

While Mr Rudd campaigns in Geelong, Ms Gillard will meet car industry leaders in Melbourne.

The meeting will focus on ensuring the survival of the car industry, both for the remaining manufacturers, Holden and Toyota, and vehicle component makers once Ford's manufacturing operations cease.

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