Tony Abbott continues to claw back support from voters two months after surviving what he admitted was a near-death political experience.
The story is much the same for his government four weeks out from its second budget.
Two polls published on Monday confirm an improvement in the prime minister's approval rating with voters, while pointing to different election results.
Both The Australian's Newspoll and the Fairfax-Ipsos poll show Mr Abbott's satisfaction with voters rising to 33 and 34 per cent respectively.
Newspoll has Labor leading the coalition 51-49 per cent two-party preferred while Ipsos has the opposition ahead 54-46 per cent.
The Newspoll result will ease concerns among Liberal MPs who put Mr Abbott's leadership to a party room test in February, when the government trailed Labor by as much as 14 points.
Back then the prime minister's satisfaction rating with voters stood at a term-low of 24 per cent.
"Polls go up and down. I'm obviously focused on getting on with government," Mr Abbott told the Seven Network.
Newspoll detected a slide in support for Labor leader Bill Shorten with his satisfaction rating dropping nine points since February to 33 per cent.
The Ipsos poll though gives him the tick of approval from 43 per cent of voters, and Newspoll has him fractionally in front of Mr Abbott as preferred prime minister.
The Ipsos poll also shows voters are not impressed with Treasurer Joe Hockey as he beavers away at his second budget.
He has suffered a 45 per cent reversal in his approval rating during the past 13 months from plus 20 per cent in March 2014 to minus 25 now.
Yet voters still say the coalition is the better economic manager at 41 per cent to Labor's 32.
Asked about the fall in his approval rating, Mr Hockey said it was his job to "level" with the Australian people about the mess the government inherited from Labor.
"It's not about me, it's about what is right for Australia," he told ABC TV.
The Ipsos poll show six out of 10 voters (58 per cent) say they still want the budget deficit addressed as a "high priority" and a growing number favour an increase in the 10 per cent goods and services tax.
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