Malcolm Turnbull has given his coalition team a pep talk ahead of the final sitting of parliament for the year.
The prime minister is buoyed by the return of his deputy Barnaby Joyce after Saturday's New England by-election and a slight improvement in opinion polls published on Monday.
Coalition MPs were told there is reason to be confident, but discipline will be needed because the government is down two MPs - John Alexander and Mr Joyce - in the lower house.
The government's focus will be passing laws to allow same-sex marriage and dealing with the citizenship issue.
Conservative and moderate coalition MPs have been allocated to coordinate amendments on the same-sex marriage bill.
Both the Newspoll and Ipsos-Fairfax survey gave Labor a 53-47 lead in two-party terms, a slight improvement on previous polls but still enough to deliver the opposition a landslide win.
However, Mr Turnbull has widened the gap on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in the stakes for preferred prime minister.
Newspoll put the gap at 39 to 33, while Ipsos found it to be 48-31.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie brandished a yellow 'Barney Army' shirt for the cameras on Monday.
"I think having him back on the ground, in Canberra and back in the party room, will do a lot for our team spirit and to bring us back together," Senator McKenzie told reporters in Canberra.
Voters appeared to endorse the idea of ending instability, with 71 per cent of voters telling Ipsos they believed elected prime ministers should govern for a full-term rather than be dumped before an election.
One of the coalition figures blamed for instability, Queenslander George Christensen, quoted Hollywood legend John Wayne on Facebook ahead of the parliamentary week.
"When the road looks rough ahead, remember the 'man upstairs' and the word hope. Hang onto both and 'tough it out'."
Mr Turnbull is confident no other coalition members will be sucked into the citizenship fiasco but is adamant he will use his government numbers to unilaterally refer Labor MPs who are in doubt to the High Court.
Senators' details will be published at 12 midday AEDT Monday, while lower house MPs have been given until 9am AEDT Tuesday to declare their family history and citizenship details.
Question Time is expected to be dominated by questions of Chinese influence on the coalition and Labor, in the wake of media reports about businessman Huang Xiangmo.
