Prime Minister Julia Gillard confirmed that she had spoken to rebel Victorian backbencher Darren Cheeseman, as she attempts to shore up her position in the face of continuing leadership tension.
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Mr Gillard refused to reveal details of the conversation. "I did speak to Darren yesterday," she said. "That's a private conversation and I'll keep it private."
The Prime Minister can count on one sure vote, with NSW Labor MP David Bradbury joking today he might resort to body art to demonstrate his support for Ms Gillard.
Ms Gillard, who was visiting a primary school in Mr Bradbury's electorate to discuss the Gonski schools funding report, also dismissed further talk about a possible challenge from Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd.
"Of course I would prefer if all of you had come to the press conference today solely for the purpose of talking about school funding," Ms Gillard said.
"I answered a lot of these questions yesterday. And to be frank with you, I really don't have much to add."
At the weekend Mr Cheeseman called on the Prime Minister to stand down and last night told The Age that Ms Gillard should call a caucus vote if she and her backers thought she was safe.
As Ms Gillard faces leadership questions in Australia, Mr Rudd is meeting foreign ministers from G20 nations in Mexico.
Mr Rudd today posted a seven-second video on Facebook of him shaking hands with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
No sound is recorded on the video, but Mr Rudd sent a Tweet alerting people to the video: ''Met with US Sec State Clinton at G20 mtg. Good discussions on Iran, EAS & critical role of G20 to protect jobs''. (EAS refers to East Asia Summit.)
In western Sydney during a visit to Our Lady of the Rosary School, Mr Bradbury declared unambiguously that he was in the Gillard camp.
"Both privately and publicly I have stated that I support the Prime Minister," he said.
"I don't know what I have to do to go beyond that. If it means getting a tattoo, I'd consider it."
But he then demurred: "Somehow I think my wife might object to that."
This week, Mr Bradbury has been listed in newspaper graphics - including in The Sydney Morning Herald - as being undecided in terms of his support for either Ms Gillard or Mr Rudd but "leaning" towards Ms Gillard.
"Disunity is death," Mr Bradbury told reporters.
After watching students make pancakes and learn maths, the Prime Minister, who was also accompanied by School Education Minister Peter Garrett, invited schools to participate in the debate about the Gonski review.
But Ms Gillard said she would not discuss the bill for the proposed reforms, arguing that "more work needs to be done".
"I don't think it is productive for us to be speculating about figures," she said.
Yesterday, the Gonski report suggested that funding wide-ranging reforms to improve equity and transparency in the schools system would cost an additional $5 billion a year, based on 2009 figures.
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