A mainland media report into the brewing leadership battle between Ms Gillard and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd had just one of Tasmania's 10 federal Labor politicians, Franklin MHR Julie Collins, explicitly supporting the Prime Minister.

Mr Adams and three of his colleagues - senators Carol Brown, Anne Urquhart and Nick Sherry - were listed in the Rudd camp in the article in The Weekend Australian, with the remaining five - Braddon MHR Sid Sidebottom, Bass MHR Geoff Lyons and senators Helen Polley, Lisa Singh and Catryna Bilyk - in the undecided camp.

However, Mr Adams yesterday threw his support behind his leader, albeit while delivering a sharp critique of her standing in his electorate, saying many struggled to trust her.

``The Prime Minister is perceived to have somewhat of a credibility issue,'' he said.

Mr Adams also believes Ms Gillard is struggling to get her message through to the community.

One hurdle in particular had been selling the mining resources tax which he said had been misconstrued by some in his electorate as a tax on superannuation.

``Where the economy is, most governments would be in a sound position, this government isn't and I think the problem is communication.

``There is misinterpretation and unclear messages through not thinking through the message before it goes out.''

He was disappointed that leadership speculation continued to be fuelled in the media by nameless Labor sources.

``They should make their statements with their names to them,'' Mr Adams said.

Mr Adams and Mr Sidebottom yesterday both denied knowledge of a challenge to Ms Gillard's leadership, with Mr Sidebottom also pledging his support for Ms Gillard.

Both men said they had not been approached by anyone within the Labor Party on their commitment to Ms Gillard and described media reports of a leadership challenge from Kevin Rudd as a beat-up.

Mr Lyons did not return calls for comment from The Sunday Examiner.