Chris Bowen challenges Malcolm Turnbull to call a general election

Malcolm Turnbull challenged as Labor downplays polling showing Bill Shorten is on the nose in key by-election seats.

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen has downplayed Liberal polling showing Bill Shorten is on the nose in key by-election seats.

Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen has challenged Malcolm Turnbull to call a general election now, downplaying Liberal Party polling which has shown Bill Shorten is on the nose with voters in three key by-election seats, and particularly unpopular among young women.

The leaked polling shows Mr Shorten’s popularity has slumped to its lowest result since the by-election campaigns began, the Sunday Telegraph is reporting.

The polls, taken a week after Mr Shorten was rolled by shadow cabinet and withdrew his pledge to repeal tax cuts for medium-sized businesses, asked respondents whether they had a favourable or unfavourable impression of the Labor leader.

In the Tasmanian seat of Braddon he had a net favourability rating of minus 45, while in the Queensland seat of Longman, it was minus 27, and in the South Australian seat of Mayo, where Centre Alliance candidate Rebekha Sharkie is polling well ahead of Liberal Georgina Downer, Mr Shorten also scored minus 27.

Among female voters aged under 35 in Mayo, Mr Shorten scored an unprecedented rating of minus 35.

Mr Bowen said the key point was that the research had been done by the Liberal Party.

“I mean that’s how desperate they are,” he told Sky News.

“I mean I don’t even know how accurate it would be. Obviously we all say we don’t comment on the polls, but if you look at the polls, we’ve been in a strong position for a long time, we’re very competitive under Bill’s leadership, I’m very comfortable with that.

“We’re leading the policy debate. We’ve taken the approach to win this election on policy. That’s the approach we’ll continue to take. We’re going to fight hard.”

Mr Bowen said he was “very comfortable” with where the polls are at.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the Queensland LNP State convention in Brisbane on Saturday.

“We don’t take anything for granted and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve got a task ahead of us to win the respect of the Australian people with a general election, but I’ll tell you what, if Malcolm Turnbull’s so ready for an election, why doesn’t he hop in the car, go down and see the Governor-General, call an election?

“It’s a Sunday, it’s not a bad day for it, call an election, and we’ll get on with it.”

A half-Senate election must be held between August 4 and May 18, while the House of Representatives election can take place any time before November 2, 2019.

It is unlikely that Malcolm Turnbull would choose to hold the two elections separately.

Mr Bowen also defended $215 million in spending commitments Labor has made during the by-election campaigns, saying they would all be paid for.

The figure compares with $90m pledge by the government, and includes an undertaking yesterday to spend $25m to establish an AFL club in Tasmania.

“Yes we’ve made some spending commitments. It would be the first by-election campaign in Australian history if neither side made spending commitments,” Mr Bowen said.

“I don’t begrudge the Liberals making their spending commitments, particularly as they try to hold onto Mayo for example.

“All our commitments are very carefully designed, they’re all paid for. I’m a strong supporter of an AFL team for Tasmania for example. I think that’s a great thing. I think they deserve one. As a foundation member of the GWS Giants, for example, I know how good new teams in the competition can be. I think Tasmania deserves one.

“We’re happy to work with the AFL for it, and of course we’ll time those announcements to match by-elections of course.

“In relation to the general election, let me tell you, the set of books that Jim Chalmers and I present to the Australian people during the election campaign will be a better set of books than a Liberal Party can present, because we’ve made the tough decisions. You asked about how our books will look. We’ll have a better set of books than this.”