Senior cabinet minister Peter Dutton has pledged his loyalty to Malcolm Turnbull, despite admitting the coalition government is on track for defeat at the next election.
The home affairs minister, who has been touted as a potential leadership alternative, threw his support behind the prime minister ahead of Mr Turnbull's looming 30th Newspoll loss.
Mr Dutton said he accepted cabinet positions from Tony Abbott and Mr Turnbull on the basis of loyalty.
"If I can't be loyal to the leader then my judgment is I resign," Mr Dutton told 2GB on Thursday.
He conceded Australia was on track for a Bill Shorten-led Labor government, a prospect he sees as a "disaster".
"We're up against it at the moment but we've got a good story to tell in terms of the management of the economy," he said.
"I think over the course of the last couple of years the dramas in the Senate, the problems around personal issues and all the rest of that have taken a lot of oxygen out of the message."
It has emerged Mr Abbott will be touring through the Latrobe Valley on Monday when the latest poll is expected to be made public.
Its release coincides with his annual Pollie Pedal charity bike ride which aims to raise $500,000 for Soldier On.
As the prime minister faces pressure from a group of backbenchers to consider the importance of coal-fired power in ongoing energy policy, his predecessor noted the Victorian region had been a wonderful source of cheap, reliable power.
Asked about Mr Abbott's plans for Monday, cabinet minister Steve Ciobo said the former prime minister's movements would gain media attention whether he was on a pushbike or in Canberra.
"If he was sitting behind his desk there'd be counter claims made for a different reason," he told ABC radio on Thursday.
"I think everyone just needs to have a glass of water and calm down about these sorts of things."
Mr Turnbull used the factor of 30 Newspoll losses in a row as a reason for ousting Mr Abbott in September 2015.
But the prime minister is "very" confident he continues to have the support of his coalition colleagues for the leadership, with about 12 months to go until the next federal election.
