PRIME Minister Tony Abbott stood and grinned as he was heckled by a Perth motorist, who yelled “you’re all a bunch of w--kers”.

Mr Abbott smirked as the motorist passed by a press conference at Perth Airport, where he was joined by Premier Colin Barnett, Transport Minister Dean Nalder and Canning by-election candidate Andrew Hastie.

Unfazed, Mr Barnett quipped about Saturday’s Fremantle Dockers match against the Sydney Swans, saying: “Don’t worry about that motorist, he was simply a Sydney supporter”.

Mr Abbott arrived in Perth on Saturday as an exclusive Galaxy poll commissioned by The Sunday Times predicted a swing of nearly 10 per cent against the government in the September 19 West Australian by-election.

The Coalition Government had enjoyed a 11.8 per cent margin in the seat, left vacant by the sudden death of Liberal stalwart Don Randall in July.

But our Galaxy Poll shows that has now almost been wiped out.

“I’m just not going to get into this kind of what would be a good result, what would not ... all I know is that I want the best possible candidate for Canning and that’s what we have got in Andrew Hastie,” Mr Abbott told reporters in Perth on Sunday.

Meanwhile Senior Liberal frontbencher Peter Dutton has urged his colleagues to focus on winning the Canning by-election amid ongoing leadership speculation about Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Mr Dutton said he was confident the Liberals can hold the seat of Canning.

“I think we can get there — and well — but not if we’re talking about ourselves,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.