The poll's findings also highlight the challenge facing Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he attempts to regain political support, with the government trailing Labor by 48 per cent to 52 per cent in two-party terms. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The government has increased its standing from one month ago, when it trailed Labor by 55 per cent to 45 per cent, after Mr Morrison’s bus tour of Queensland and other campaign measures to raise his personal profile with voters. Mr Morrison has a personal lead over Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister, 47 per cent to 35 per cent, a result that has been stable for three months.

The rating for Mr Morrison as preferred prime minister is in line with the last result for Malcolm Turnbull in August, days before the government’s leadership crisis, but is lower than the polling for Mr Turnbull for most of this year. Mr Morrison has raised expectations for a major statement on migration and population by the end of the year, flagging measures to increase skilled immigration and encourage more migrants to move to regional Australia. Loading Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton oversaw a reduction in the number of permanent migrants coming to Australia last year from the official estimate of 190,000 to an actual intake of 163,000, fuelling talk of a similar cut in future years. The Immigration Minister, David Coleman, last week said no decision had been taken on the planning level for the 2020 financial year.

A Fairfax-Ipsos urvey in October found stronger support for overall migration, with 23 per cent of respondents backing an increase in the intake and 29 per cent approving the current intake. Another 45 per cent wanted the intake to be cut a little or a lot. Australians often over-estimate the proportion of the population that is Muslim, with Ipsos surveys finding respondents believe it is 17 per cent when the reality is 3 per cent. The government runs a non-discriminatory migration program but has discretion in the humanitarian intake to put a priority on some over others, with the Syrian intake of 12,000 refugees in recent years said to favour Yazidis, Christians and other minorities. Australians have supported a multicultural migration intake for many years, according to annual research by the Scanlon Foundation on social cohesion, but the findings also show a “hierarchy of ethnic preference” on migrants. Attitudes have shifted marginally in the past seven years amid heavy media coverage of terrorist attacks and heightened political debate about migration, including the revival of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and a call by Queensland senator Fraser Anning to return to the White Australia Policy.

While 31.9 per cent of respondents said they had a positive attitude to Muslims in 2010, this slipped to 28.3 per cent in the Scanlon research in 2017. The proportion with a negative attitude rose from 23.5 per cent to 25 per cent, but there was no consistent year-on-year trend up or down over the period. The Scanlon findings, led by Monash University professor Andrew Markus, have also found a strong sense of integration among Muslim Australians. The Fairfax-Ipsos survey also highlights the pressure on Mr Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor to tackle energy policy, with voters divided on whether prices or the environment should take priority. While 47 per cent said the government's first objective should be to reduce prices, 39 per cent said it should be reducing carbon emissions. The support for reducing household bills was higher among Coalition voters, at 58 per cent, while only 22 per cent of this group put a priority on greenhouse gas emissions.