The passing of laws on gay marriage, a win in the Bennelong by-election and the Sam Dastyari scandal have failed to deliver a bounce to the coalition, with Labor still ahead on a two-party preferred basis, the last Newspoll for the year shows.
Labor leads the coalition by 53 per cent to 47, representing a national swing against the government of three per cent.
The poll of 1669 voters across the country, conducted exclusively for The Australian over the weekend, shows the coalition has made no ground in the past two weeks with Labor maintaining a one-point primary vote lead of 37.
The coalition is still seen the better manager of the economy and on national security and border protection, but Labor for the first time is seen as best placed to deliver on relief from cost of living stresses.
The Greens remained steady on 10 per cent while One Nation dropped a further point to seven per cent.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull maintained his narrow lead over Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister, lifting two points to 41 per cent while the opposition leader himself went up a point to 34 per cent.
