A new opinion poll shows Malcolm Turnbull has shrugged off a "shabby" Labor attempt to denigrate him over his wealth, a cabinet minister says.
Peter Dutton, who stuck solid with Tony Abbott in September's Liberal leadership ballot, says a Fairfax-Ipsos poll also shows Mr Turnbull has connected with the Australian people with two-out-of-three voters preferring him as prime minister over Bill Shorten.
"It demonstrates that Malcolm Turnbull was able to shrug off the shabby attempt by Bill Shorten and others to denigrate him over his wealth," the immigration minister told ABC radio on Monday.
Mr Dutton took a swipe at the opposition leader, saying he didn't have "the guts to stand up himself" and lead the attack on Mr Turnbull.
Instead he left it to senior colleagues to quiz the prime minister in parliament over his investments in the Cayman Islands.
Mr Dutton said the coalition's bounce in the poll - to lead 53-47 per cent on a two-party preferred basis - could be attributed to its decision to build up Mr Turnbull and not tear down Mr Abbott, who he described as a good prime minister who was not popular with parts of the public.
Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer played down talk the coalition might be keen to call an early election, saying it was focused on being the best possible government.
"There's quite a long way to the next election," she said.
Cabinet colleague Simon Birmingham agreed, saying the Turnbull government has made a promising start.
He told Sky News it was important voters had confidence in the government as it addressed numerous challenges facing the nation.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon predicts dissent within the Liberal ranks will start to dissipate, given the coalition's revived popularity.
"Nothing succeeds like success in politics," he told reporters.
A smiling Liberal senator Chris Back, who backed Mr Abbott, said the early signals from Mr Turnbull were "very sound".
"Whether the 67 per cent figure is real, I don't know, but we'll take it in the meantime," he said.
Share
