Turnbull faces new opinion poll shock as government slides to 45-55 against ALP
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be under renewed leadership pressure with a new opinion poll showing the coalition's support crashing.
Labor has taken a 10-point lead over the coalition, with 55-45 on a two-party preferred basis, according to the Fairfax-Ipsos poll published on Monday
If an election was held last weekend, the government would have lost 24 seats and would have seen several cabinet members turfed out.
The poll shows Mr Turnbull's personal approval rating has also dived to 40 per cent, but he still narrowly leads against opposition leader Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister.
Loss of 24 seats: Malcolm Turnbull would have faced a wipe out if the election were held at the weekend. Source: AAP
Nearly one in two voters polled disapproved of Mr Turnbull's performance - 48 per cent - while 53 per cent of voters disapproved of Mr Shorten and only 35 per cent approved, a drop of 2 per cent.
Mr Turnbull still leads his opposition counterpart as preferred prime minister 45 to 33.
The nationwide poll of 1400 people, conducted from Wednesday to Saturday last week, follows the West Australian Liberal party's disastrous state election result a fortnight ago.
Some good news: The PM is not as unpopular as the opposition leader. Source: AAP
A Newspoll in The Australian last Monday showed Labor leading the coalition 52-48 per cent on a two-party basis, with the coalition's primary vote rising three points to 37 per cent over the previous three weeks.
Dissatisfaction with the two major parties has pushed more voters into the arms of the minor parties, with Greens recording a primary vote of 16 per cent and "other" parties, such as One Nation and the Nick Xenophon Team, clocking a primary vote of 17 per cent.
Minor gains: NXT leader Nick Xenophon, Green leader Richard Di Natale and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson have increased primary votes. Source: AAP
Since July's election, primary votes for the Greens and the other minors have risen 6 per cent and 7 per cent respectfully.
The poll showed cabinet ministers Peter Dutton and Christian Porter would have been unseated as well as junior ministers Ken Wyatt and Luke Hartsuyker.
The Fairfax-Ipsos poll comes as there's talk of a reshuffle in the Turnbull government.
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Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop on Sunday fully backed Mr Turnbull as a "can-do" prime minister who would take the coalition to the next election.
She said Mr Turnbull had her support and that of the "vast majority" of the party room to stay on as prime minister.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten remains more unpopular than Mr Turnbull. Source: AAP
Mr Turnbull used poor opinion polls as his reasoning to challenge then prime minister Tony Abbott for the leadership.
Parliament resumes this week before breaking until the May 9 budget.
Newsbreak – March 27
