Newspoll: MP calls for calm amid Malcolm Turnbull’s slide

The Coalition needs to win back voter support after a slide in its Newspoll ratings, the Immigration Minister admits.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham says MPs need to back the government’s ability to formulate successful policies.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says the government needs to “work harder” to win support of voters, denying the Coalition’s tough line on asylum-seekers had undermined the government’s standing.

The Coalition and Labor are deadlocked in the poll, taken exclusively for The Australian, as support for the government tumbles in the face of policy confusion and the political honeymoon ends for Malcolm Turnbull, with his personal ratings falling to a four-month low.

After a chaotic beginning to the election year, with mixed signals from the Prime Minister and Scott Morrison about their policy agenda, a retreat on changing the GST and ministerial resignations causing a reshuffle, support for the Coalition has fallen while voters have favoured Labor’s bold plan to change negative-gearing tax breaks.

“The government’s got a lot of work today because we’re 50-50 and Australia faces a prospect of union-dominated government under Bill Shorten, so we need to make sure we work harder to keep our country safe and out of the hands of these union bosses,” Mr Dutton told ABC radio.

“There are many reasons why people should vote for the Coalition but ultimately what’s of most interest to us is not polls; it’s how we can help families improve their lives, help their kids get a better education, make sure that people can live in a safe society, and that’s part of what we’ll be saying at the next election.”

Mr Dutton believed the voters endorsed the government’s “firm but compassionate” approach to asylum-seekers.

“People were very angry that Labor had lost control of our borders and 1200 people had drowned. In this area we have restored integrity to the process.,” he said.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham has urged colleagues to maintain confidence in the government’s ability to develop appealing policies before the election, after Labor drew equal with the Coalition in the latest Newspoll.

Senator Birmingham, asked what his message was to spooked MPs, told Sky News: “People should be confident ... that we have a clear direction, that we are working towards the budget in relation to economic and tax measures, as governments should always do.

“The election is of course due in the second half of this year and that’s the timeline the government works towards to make sure we have that comprehensive economic policy reform agenda unlike the Labor Party.”

The Newspoll reveals the Coalition’s primary vote slumped three points to 43 per cent to be at the lowest level since Mr Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as Prime Minister five months ago.

Labor frontbencher Tony Burke said voters were becoming increasingly aware of the “gap” between the Prime Minister’s rhetoric when challenging Tony Abbott and his achievements since taking power.

“Malcolm Turnbull says economic leadership; Malcolm Turnbull provides chaos and mess,” Mr Burke said.

The Coalition’s lost support appears to have been evenly split among other parties, with Labor rising one point to 35 per cent, the Greens gaining one point to 12 per cent, and backing for other parties and independents up one point to 10 per cent.

Based on preference flows from the last election, the Coalition and Labor are tied in two-party terms at 50 per cent each.

Exclusive Newspoll tables