Although there has been no Liberal Party polling since the May 13 federal budget, any advantage has now almost certainly been lost.

''There was clearly some confusion between the state and federal budgets,'' a senior Liberal source said. ''You don't need a poll to get a sense of the damage inflicted by the federal budget.''

During last year's federal election campaign, Mr Abbott described Melbourne as his ''second home''. He has also made much of his government's promise to contribute $3 billion towards the $14 billion to $18 billion East West Link.

But a state Liberal MP said Victorian Liberals were unhappy the Abbott government had not been more mindful of the electoral challenges facing the Napthine government later this year. The MP said Mr Abbott had become so unpopular in Victoria the most helpful thing he could do between now and November 29 was to ''steer clear''. ''I don't think it would be helpful. There is no doubt Tony Abbott is particularly unpopular in Victoria, and this is having a negative impact on our position.''

But another Coalition MP said the polling had consistently placed the state Coalition in a losing position, saying it was wrong to blame its problems on Mr Abbott and the federal budget.