Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has launched a bitter attack on former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson, saying he is suffering from "relevance deprivation syndrome".

Mr Rudd, who Mr Richardson says is working to seize the prime ministership from Julia Gillard, went on to accuse him of "taking hundreds of thousands of dollars" to "bag" the ALP.

On Wednesday Mr Richardson, who previously claimed Ms Gillard was "finished" as prime minister, named two ALP backbenchers he said were behind the push to have Mr Rudd reinstalled as leader.

He said Victorian MP Alan Griffin and West Australian Mark Bishop were heavily involved, with Mr Griffin "leading the push".

''He's doing a lot of the telephoning, a lot of the ringing around. He's a very clever operator this bloke, no fool,'' Mr Richardson said.

On Friday, Mr Rudd confirmed that he and "Griffo" have been friends for "about 10 years".

"In the last couple of months I've probably seen Griffo twice, probably about a month ago I saw him and I saw him this week in Melbourne. I see a lot of people," Mr Rudd told reporters.

Mr Richardson, who retired from politics in 1994 citing ill health, has recently increased his profile as a political commentator with outspoken comments and his own television show on Sky News.

In a newspaper column on Friday, Mr Richardson accused Mr Rudd of having experience in undermining leaders and of "treachery that brought the Gillard [election] campaign to its knees last year".

Mr Rudd says Mr Richardson has missed the public spotlight and wants it back.

"There's a thing in politics called relevance deprivation syndrome. Is Mr Richardson suffering from that?" Mr Rudd asked rhetorically.

"Probably," he answered.

"Is Mr Richardson taking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in salaries to go out there and bag the Labor Party and the Labor government every day? Probably. In fact, definitely."

Downfall

Mr Rudd also took the opportunity to slam Labor's factional bosses who he has always blamed for his downfall.

"Is Mr Richardson doing as he's always done in the past and acting as some sort of unofficial spokesman for the factional bullies in our party who try to control it from time to time? Undoubtedly."

He said Mr Richardson's observations about him in the newspaper column are "water off a duck's back".

Mr Rudd has been active in travelling to various electorates since he recovered from a heart valve operation in August - he was in Justine Elliot's electorate of Richmond on New South Wales north coast on Friday.

Asked if the visit was part of a leadership campaign, Mr Rudd said Ms Elliot had been inviting him to the electorate for a long time - and it was not far to travel from Brisbane.

"What I've been doing for the last week with many of our local members across the country is explaining what we are doing in the aid portfolio, given that many, many Australians are deeply concerned about what's happening in the Horn of Africa."