One last push for aspiring Labor leaders Labor leadership candidate Anthony Albanese is self-funding his campaign for the party's top job. THOSE suffering Labor pains will be relieved to know the party's leadership contractions have reached the final push. The Labor caucus will meet in Canberra on Thursday to cast their vote for either Bill Shorten or Anthony Albanese, while the equally weighted 44,000 rank and file party members have until 5pm Friday to return their ballots. The winner of the historic vote - conceived by ousted prime minister Kevin Rudd - will become Labor leader on Sunday. The two candidates have trumpeted the reforms as stealing a march on the coalition by creating a more open and democratic party. Mr Shorten declared early in the campaign that he had the majority of the caucus support, but Mr Albanese is tipped to receive a higher proportion of rank-and-file ballots. While both aspiring leaders have been well behaved, they've managed to slip in a few sly digs at each other during the campaign. In a rare shot at Mr Albanese's pugnacity, Mr Shorten said his specialty was not to "throw haymakers in the parliament," but "to turn minorities into majorities." Some may find that a little too close to the truth. Mr Albanese's latest dig came when he was asked by ABC radio on Wednesday whether he'd back further party reforms to give rank and file members the power to elect delegates to party conferences - as Mr Shorten had committed to the day previously. I give more than a newfound commitment. I give 30 years of practice," he said. Mr Albanese was also asked whether he thought he'd lose votes due to Mr Shorten's endorsement of fellow left-faction member Tanya Plibersek as deputy leader. "I think people in the Labor party are sophisticated enough to see through political strategies," he said. However it's not just political strategies that have played a strong part in Mr Shorten's fast finishing campaign - it's believed he's also received more funding. The former Australian Workers Union national secretary admitted some unions had helped pay his campaign costs, while Mr Albanese says he's funded himself outside the budget set by Labor's national office. Both Mr Albanese and Mr Shorten will attend a sold-out business fundraiser in Sydney on Wednesday, where they'll make one last push to garner support from any of the 20,000 odd rank-and-file Labor members yet to vote.