A new poll has revealed almost half of all voters want someone other than Bill Shorten to lead the Opposition.
Even among Labor voters only 37 per cent back Mr Shorten as leader, the first Newspoll for 2018 revealed.
The poll has the Coalition trailing Labor 48-52 per cent after preferences, a slight improvement on its standing at the end of 2017.
A new poll has revealed almost half of all voters want someone other than Bill Shorten (pictured) to lead the Opposition
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has extended his lead as preferred prime minister to 14 points over the Opposition Leader.
‘Bill Shorten has got the most anti-business, the most anti-investment, the most anti-jobs policy of any Labor leader since Whitlam,’ Mr Turnbull said on Sunday.
Mr Shorten denied he had an image problem, and said he believed Australians were tired of ‘gotcha poll questions’ and games.
‘[Voters] want to know what we’re going to do for people, they don’t want to hear us talking about ourselves,’ Mr Shorten said.
On Sunday Mr Shorten announced Labor government would cap private health insurance increases to two per cent for two years.
Mr Turnbull hit back by saying it showed Labor was producing ‘policy on the run’ and risked causing the private health sector to collapse.
‘These are private companies. They’re in a very competitive market. The reality is Labor wants to destroy private health insurance,’ he told the ABC.
The improved showings for the government and Mr Turnbull have buoyed federal Coalition MPs as they head into the new parliamentary year.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) has extended his lead as preferred prime minister to 14 points over the Opposition Leader
‘The truth is we are in good space,’ cabinet minister Christopher Pyne told ABC radio on Monday.
‘This is going to be a very bleak year for Bill Shorten, unfortunately the public have found him out,’ Mr Pyne said.
The Newspoll showed over 49 per cent of all voters would prefer another Labor leader.
Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek (25 per cent) is preferred leader among all voters closely followed by Anthony Albanese (24 per cent) with Mr Shorten on 22 per cent.
Among Labor voters, Mr Shorten led Ms Plibersek (27 per cent) and Mr Albanese (23 per cent) with 37 per cent.
Mr Albanese said he was busy enough in his own portfolio without thinking about challenging for the Labor leadership.
‘My challenge is doing the right thing by the Australian people as part of Bill Shorten’s team,’ he told Sky News.
‘My loyalty is always to the cause of Labor and the people we represent.’
Senior Labor frontbencher Tony Burke believes Mr Shorten will lead Labor to the next election.
‘We don’t want to go back to the days, which the Liberal Party are still in, of constant leadership change and speculation,’ he said.
His colleague Stephen Jones saw a silver lining in the preferred leader results: ‘Isn’t it good to be a member of a party where we’ve got such a talented frontbench?’
Mr Shorten is also facing questions over the dual citizenship of Brisbane-based Labor MP Susan Lamb, which the government says is an ‘open and shut’ case.
‘She should be resigning this morning,’ Mr Pyne told ABC radio on Monday.
‘She should have resigned months ago.’
But Labor says every MP under a citizenship cloud, including Liberal Jason Falinski, should be referred to the High Court.
Mr Pyne says Ms Lamb will be referred to the court if Labor refuses to do the right thing.
Even among Labor voters only 37 per cent back Mr Shorten (pictured) as leader, the first Newspoll for 2018 revealed
Treasurer Scott Morrison, fresh from a visit to the US, is upbeat about the state of the Australian economy and the global outlook.
‘I think the year is one of great economic opportunity, not just here in Australia but all around the world,’ he told reporters in Canberra.
‘The Australian economy is off to a great start this year, the global economy is off to a great start.’
Government MPs believe the focus will be on Labor and Mr Shorten, rather than the coalition, as parliament returns from the long summer break.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale argued the government doesn’t have a future.
‘It’s relying on the missteps of the opposition,’ he told reporters.
One Nation dropped further in the poll, down to 5 per cent in a slide which began after the Queensland state election in late October.