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Budget marked down as election nears: poll

The federal budget has received a lukewarm response as the prime minister prepares to seek a July 2 election.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull is poised to pass the final hurdle to calling an election. (AAP) Source: AAP

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Source: AAP


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The first poll taken after Malcolm Turnbull's pre-election budget suggests only 7 per cent of voters believe they will be better off and it will be a tight-run race.

The Seven-ReachTel poll found 33 per cent of voters believed they would be worse off under the budget, while 59 per cent said "about the same" and only seven per cent thought they'd be better off.

Fifteen per cent of coalition voters said they would be worse off.

Just over one-in-three voters rated the budget "poor", while 39 per cent said it was "average" and just over 26 per cent described it as "good".

With the prime minister expected to visit Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Sunday to seek a July 2 election, the two-party result put Labor and the coalition 50-50.

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The Liberals' primary vote sat on 41.4 per cent - just above its 2013 election result - while Labor's was 35.1 per cent, almost two points above its stocks at the previous election.

Labor is expected to heavily benefit from Greens and Nick Xenophon Team preferences.

The poll showed the Greens held 9.5 per cent of the primary vote with the South Australian-based NXT on 4.2 per cent, with "others" on seven per cent.

Labor needs a national swing of 4.3 per cent to unseat the coalition government after only one term.

The coalition can afford to lose 14 seats on a swing of three per cent.

Mr Turnbull continued to hold the lead as preferred prime minister, favoured by 57.7 per cent of voters over Labor leader Bill Shorten in the Seven-ReachTel poll.

Asked to rate Mr Turnbull's performance, 28 per cent of voters said good, while 37.5 per cent said satisfactory and 34.5 per cent marked him down as poor.

Mr Shorten was rated good by 25 per cent of voters, while 31.5 per cent said satisfactory and 44 per cent rated him as poor.

The lower house's 150 seats and all 76 Senate seats will be up for grabs at the double dissolution election, triggered by the parliament's rejection of a restored building industry watchdog.

New boundaries will apply for House of Representatives seats, while the voting system changes for the Senate.


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