Acting prime minister Julie Bishop says a drop in the polls for the government is "not surprising", but insists there's light at the end of the tunnel in the citizenship saga.
With the coalition slipping further in the Newspoll behind Labor - 45-55 per cent - Malcolm Turnbull's lead as preferred prime minister over Labor's Bill Shorten dropped five points to 36 per cent.
The gap between the two leaders has narrowed to just two percentage points compared to eight points two weeks ago and 17 points at the end of August.
It is the closest Mr Shorten has ever been to regaining the lead he enjoyed over Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister.
The poll, published on Monday, also shows voters prefer Julie Bishop over Mr Turnbull - 40-27 per cent - as Liberal leader.
But coalition supporters still prefer Mr Turnbull.
"The polls are not surprising," Ms Bishop told reporters on the Queensland state election campaign trail.
Ms Bishop said a motion had been negotiated with Labor to force all senators to reveal family history and citizenship details by December 1.
A similar motion will go to the lower house on November 27.
As well, the government is fighting by-elections in the seats of New England and Bennelong, triggered by citizenship doubts over former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and Liberal MP John Alexander.
"What we have now is a plan to resolve this issue, then we can continue to govern for the Australian people," Ms Bishop said.
Turnbull supporter Christopher Pyne noted an election was not due until July 2019.
"Polls come and go and people should remain unfazed by them," he told ABC radio.
Cabinet colleague Mathias Cormann, who agreed the "messiness" of the past few weeks had hurt the government, insisted Mr Turnbull was providing strong and effective leadership for the coalition.
"Once we get to the next general election we'll be putting forward our record of achievement as well as our plan for the future," he said.
Mr Abbott said there were a lot of factors conspiring to make the prime minister's job difficult.
"I certainly think the government can win the next election, I think that is what we have got to be focused on," he told Ray Hadley on 2GB radio.
Mr Shorten noted Ms Bishop had tripled her photo opportunities in recent weeks.
He also told a meeting of opposition senators in Canberra that cabinet ministers were now leaking that they no longer trust Mr Turnbull's judgment.
