Australian Labor Party leader and second-time Prime Minister Kevin Rudd continues to reap the benefit of his return to power with the latest poll as proof that he is indeed a threat to Opposition leader Tony Abbott's ambition to be Australia's 29th prime minister.

The Australia reported on Monday that the latest Newspoll results show that Mr Rudd's personal support rose further by 7 points to 43 per cent after 7 days. For the same period, he enjoyed a 4-point increase as preferred prime minister, giving him a 22-point leader over Mr Abbott whose rating fell 4 points to 31 per cent.

The Australian would provide more details of the survey on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, new Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed on Sunday night that his predecessor Wayne Swan was discussing with him days before the June 26 ballot to tackle contingency plans in the event that then Prime Minister Julia Gillard would lose the leadership spill.

Mr Albanese said he offered to stand aside if Mr Swan wanted to reapply as deputy PM under a Rudd government, but the latter declined.

Seeing the impact of the leadership caucus on the ALP, Mr Rudd said that under proposed party reforms, Labor members would have a voice in the election of the ALP leader through joint election by both party members and the caucus, with each group accounting for half of the votes. But the candidate for party leader should have the initial backing of 20 per cent of caucus members.

"I believe it will encourage people to re-engage in the political process and to bring back those supporters who have become disillusioned," The Age quoted Mr Rudd.

"Today, more than ever, Australians demand to know that the Prime Minister they elect, is the Prime Minister they get," he added.

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