A new poll taken after Malcolm Turnbull overthrew Tony Abbott as prime minister shows the coalition ahead of Labor for the first time in 16 months.
Mr Turnbull has also opened a lead of more than two to one over Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, according to the national Galaxy poll, published by News Corp on Friday.
The poll, taken after Monday night's coup, recorded a three-point bounce in the coalition's primary vote since May from 41 to 44 per cent, and showed it leading Labor on a two-party preferred basis by 51-49.
In the poll of 1224 voters, 51 per cent rated Mr Turnbull as preferred prime minister compared to 20 per cent for Mr Shorten.
In a further troubling sign for Mr Shorten's leadership, 27 per cent of Labor voters said they preferred Mr Turnbull as prime minister.
Liberal frontbencher Josh Frydenberg described the poll result as good news for the government.
"Malcolm Turnbull has certainly made a very strong start," he told ABC radio.
But Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said there is always a bounce when there's a new leader.
He told the Nine Network it was a small improvement and "it doesn't get better than the bounce that you get immediately after a leadership change".
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