A cabinet minister has played down the latest opinion poll which indicates that the honeymoon may be over for Malcolm Turnbull with the coalition and Labor deadlocked.
The Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, shows in two-party preferred terms the coalition and Labor are tied at 50 per cent each, a sharp drop for the government from a six percentage point lead it had maintained since November.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham defended the government's performance saying it was being "cautious and meticulous" with the task of economic reform.
"Australians know elections in Australia are hard fought battles," he told Sky News on Monday.
"Polls go up and down."
The coalition's primary vote has slumped three points to 43 per cent since January, the lowest level seen since Tony Abbott was ousted five months ago.
Labor's primary vote has jumped one point to 35 per cent in the same period.
Support for the prime minister is also on the slide, with 48 per cent of voters satisfied with Mr Turnbull's performance, down from 53 per cent in January.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says the government has a lot of work to do.
"We're 50-50 and Australia faces the prospect of a union-dominated government under Bill Shorten," he told ABC radio.
"We need to make sure we work harder to keep our country safe."
Mr Dutton said the timing of the election was up to Mr Turnbull.
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