The leadership tension now wracking the Australian Labor Party could be easily defused by one person - Prime Minister Julia Gillard herself.

Senior Labor leaders have called on Gillard to resolve the ALP wrangling once and for all, and this can be done by booting out the man pinpointed as the main source of the party rift, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.

A looming showdown between Gillard and Rudd has been rekindled over the weekend as Independent MP Andrew Wilkie revealed that the former prime minister has been seriously considering a comeback to his old post as early as last year.

Wilkie, formerly aligned with Gillard, disclosed that he had a one-on-one session with Rudd last November, exploring such a possibility, though the latter denied he ever intimated on anyone his intent to reclaim the post he lost in 2010.

En route to the United States for a series of official functions in North America, Europe and Asia, Rudd maintained that "right now ... there is no challenge,' for the Labor leadership.

But Wilkie stuck to his story and even suggested that he would be more comfortable working with a Rudd-led government than with the one Gillard now leads.

The Tasmanian MP has yet to forgive his former ally for abandoning his efforts to introduce gambling reform legislation in Parliament.

And as rumours swirled that Rudd may indeed mount a challenge soon, an old video was posted on YouTube last week showing the former prime minister unleashing unsavoury words while filming what looked like an official clip.

Rudd explained the outbursts as the showcasing of his old self, insisting too that the video was a thing of the past.

Also, he questioned the motive and the timing of the source who leaked the short clip while his supporters hinted that only high-ranking government officials could have access to such outtakes, which usually were immediately destroyed.

Gillard, however, was quick to dismiss any notions that her office was the source of the YouTube clip.

"There have been some assertions today that somehow this is concerned with my office. That is completely untrue. My office did not have access to the material people have seen on YouTube," she told The Herald Sun Monday.

"I don't know who put that material on YouTube but whoever did it has acted inappropriately," Gillard added.

Gillard admitted too that the issue is sidetracking government efforts to focus on further strengthening the economy and delivering vital services.

To that, supporters of the embattled prime minister urged her to jump the gun on Rudd and ease him out of office again, this time from the Foreign Ministry.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson has lamented that the Labor leadership speculation is distracting the government while another senior Labor leader suggested that the ALP rift should end soon and that can be done by firing Rudd out of the cabinet.

The alternative is to allow for a party-room ballot, the same senior Labor leader told The Herald Sun.

"It can't keep going on like this. Sacking him can strengthen her if she handles it properly," the publication's source said.

On his part, Emerson admitted that the rivalry between Gillard and Rudd is hurting the ALP.

"There is a campaign on here and it's a campaign that is anti-Labor," Emerson told ABC.

And if he has to make a choice, Emerson stressed that his vote will go for Gillard, who he insisted is "a leader and she's a leader with guts and a leader with vision."

Also, another Labor stalwart, MP Steve Gibbons, reminded his party that allowing Rudd to return to his old post would be a big mistake for the ALP.

Gibbons maintained that the former prime minister was psychopath with a giant ego though Rudd has been declaring that he had learned his lessons.