Fed: Labor figures urge resolution on leadership battle

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Fed: Labor figures urge resolution on leadership battle

CANBERRA, April 24 AAP - The two men embroiled in the Labor Party's bitter leadershipfeud went to ground today as party members argued the stoush be resolved immediately.

Labor Leader Simon Crean and his predecessor Kim Beazley yesterday traded jibes afterMr Beazley gave a magazine interview interpreted by Mr Crean as an application for theparty's top job.

Labor Party MPs today urged the pair to resolve the issue as soon as possible to stopdamaging the party.

Mr Crean's close confidante and adviser Bob McMullan said the matter should be resolvedimmediately so the party was not distracted when the May 13 Budget was delivered.

He said the leadership wrangling and campaign to destabilise the party could not continue.

"I hope that they can get together and settle this matter down but it cannot be allowedto run as it is," Mr McMullan told ABC radio.

"It's very damaging and it makes the capacity to articulate issues ... harder to gettraction because you do an interview like this about education and you wind up talkingabout leadership," he said.

"It has to be resolved ... I'm not trying to say how it should be resolved," he said.

"I have views about that but I'll express those in private."

Mr Beazley has refused to rule out a challenge to Mr Crean who accused his predecessorof disloyalty.

Senior Labor frontbencher and foreign spokesman Kevin Rudd said Mr Beazley and Mr Creanwere "old enough and ugly enough" to resolve the issue between them.

"Both of them have made statements on this matter of the leadership and I think it'simportant they resolve it sooner rather than later," Mr Rudd told the ABC.

"I'm sure they are old enough and ugly enough to sort this out themselves."

Mr Rudd said despite continued poor polling by Mr Crean, he still believed his embattledchief would lead Labor to the next election.

But Labor backbencher Graham Edwards said if Mr Crean failed to prove himself, theparty would have to seek an alternative leader.

"The onus is on Simon," Mr Edwards said.

"Obviously the challenge is there for him to succeed and if he doesn't, well there'sno doubt people will want to look at what our options are."

The comments come as a new poll showed Mr Beazley had almost four times more supportin coalition marginal seats than Mr Crean.

The Morgan poll found 46 per cent of respondents preferred Mr Beazley as oppositionleader and only 13 per cent favoured Mr Crean.

Prime Minister John Howard refused to buy into the leadership debate today.

AAP sal/jg/kim/br u

KEYWORD: LABOR SECOND DAYLEAD