Turnbull lost poll but no immediate danger

Malcolm Turnbull has lost his 30th Newspoll in a row, but he's facing no immediate danger of his party dumping him like it did Tony Abbott.

Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull inspects a child's drawing in Sydney.

Malcolm Turnbull visited a child care centre on the day his government lost its 30th Newspoll. (AAP)

Malcolm Turnbull got his 30th consecutive Newspoll loss, but he's in no immediate danger of suffering the same fate as Tony Abbott.

He will get a chance to sell the May budget, and then has to survive two party room meetings in June before the long winter break.

If there is any sign of a leadership challenge in July, some Liberals believe the prime minister will call a snap election.

The earliest a half-Senate and full lower house election can be held is August 4.

But the dreaded 30th Newspoll did show a lift in the coalition's primary vote, and a tightening in the two-party preferred vote to 48-52.

There's no point rushing to defeat if the coalition thinks it can close the gap with Labor, and push out the election to 2019.

Bill Shorten stood next to Anthony Albanese in Perth and pointed out Labor has been united for more than four years under his leadership.

"We've learned from our mistakes," the opposition leader told reporters on Monday.

Turnbull doesn't have that unity.

Abbott is promising to "agitate" for the policies he wants, gripping the pressure points.

Energy policy brought down Turnbull the first time, it helped bring down Gillard and Rudd, and Abbott is back on the same horse - again.

Who knows if Turnbull could be in a better position without the internal brawling Shorten has largely avoided?

But unless something changes he's set to match Abbott in another numerical benchmark - one election win, one election loss.


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Source: AAP


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