After a series of by-election defeats, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is claiming the real test of public opinion is the next federal election.
Losses in Mayo, Braddon and Longman on Super Saturday weren't completely unexpected - it's almost a century since a government won a by-election from the opposition.
But as late as Friday evening, some senior party members were talking up the possibility of bringing home two seats.
That wasn't to be the case and now Mr Turnbull says the government will look into the results, though he sees nothing remarkable about them.
"We will look very seriously and thoughtfully and humbly at the way in which voters have responded," he told reporters in Sydney on Saturday morning, his first appearance since polls closed.
"I mean ... the real test of public opinion and political opinion is obviously at elections."
Mr Turnbull immediately swung back into campaign mode, criticising Labor's position on health during fierce by-election contests in the Tasmanian seat of Braddon and Longman in Queensland.
He took Labor and its leader Bill Shorten to task over campaign lies and spruiked the importance of his party's company tax cuts.
But senior cabinet minister Dan Tehan has urged the need to learn from the loss, including on policy mix and questioning the party's methods of campaigning.
"We've got to make sure, especially when it's that hand-to-hand combat on the ground in those electorates, that we do what we can to counter what the Labor Party are able to do in those seats," he said.
"We always look at what our policy mix is and we're always out there listening to the Australian people."
He refused to say whether the party would continue to pursue its company tax cuts at the next election, instead clinging to hope it could be passed later this year.
Mr Turnbull, on the other hand, assured voters he was "committed to the strong national economic plan", but stopped short of confirming it would go to the election.
