Labor's two-party preferred vote at Abbott levels

Labor's primary vote is at its healthiest level since June last year, increasing 2 percentage points in a fortnight to 36 points while the Coalition's has slid 1 point to 42 per cent. The Greens slid from 14 per cent to 13 per cent.

Worryingly for the government, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's personal ratings have fallen again after the previous poll showed the slide had been arrested. Mr Turnbull's approval rating fell 3 points in the fortnight to 45 per cent and his disapproval rating rose 4 points to 42 per cent.

Labor leader Bill Shorten's approval rating rose a point to 41 per cent and his disapproval rating rose a point to 47 per cent.

Still, Mr Turnbull, who became leader in September last year, is preferred as Prime Minister over Mr Shorten by 49 per cent to 31 per cent. Mr Shorten's preferred prime minister rating is the lowest for an Opposition leader in a campaign since Kim Beazley's 37 per cent during the "Tampa election" of 2001. Mr Turnbull's rating is on par with those who won the past five elections.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wore hollow lens mixed reality goggles at SAAB Australia in Adelaide. Andrew Meares

The poll was conducted in the immediate aftermath of Sunday night's widely-criticised leadership debate. The polling period coincided with the release of the national accounts showing the economy growing at a better-than-expected 3.1 per cent, and as signs of unrest began to emerge inside the Coalition over its plans to curb superannuation tax concessions by $6 billion if elected. Mr Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison were forced to rule out making any changes in a bid to suppress any more outbreaks before the election.

Throughout the week, the government continued to push its company tax cuts, with the focus being on the immediate benefits to small and medium business.


Taxing and spending

The themes continued on Friday with Labor leader Bill Shorten defending his stated support in 2011 for company tax cuts when Labor proposed a cut to be funded by the original mining tax.

"There's no comparison between 2011 and now. The truth of the matter is you can only ever do company tax cuts when the nation can afford to do them. And the truth of the matter is that in 2016, the idea that we would give a $50 billion tax giveaway where it basically goes to overseas shareholders, to large banks, mining companies and multinationals, well, that's the wrong choice for this country at this time," he said.

Altered reality: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Indistry Minister Christopher Pyne wore virtual reality goggles at Saab in Adelaide on Friday. Andrew Meares

"I choose Medicare, I choose to stand up for pensioners, I choose to stand up for well-funded schools. I do not choose a $50 billion tax giveaway."

Similarly, Mr Turnbull, campaigning in the Adelaide seat of Mayo which is under threat from the Nick Xenophon Team, again insisted the super changes as announced in the budget were "ironclad", despite another MP, the Nationals' Michael McCormack, saying he would be raising the issue in the party room after the election.

Mr Turnbull, who on Thursday told those grizzling about the changes to "get real" because the new tax rates were still lower than that paid by a kid stacking supermarket shelves, repeated the message, saying he governed for all Australians, not just the few.

Laura Tingle Approval rating Two-party polling based on preference flow at the last election. The poll results are based on a national survey of 1359 respondents (aged 18+) conducted by telephone from May 31 - Jun 2, 2016. Data is weighted by age, sex and location. Preferred PM Phillip Coorey Labor continues to chip away at the Coalition Two-party SOURCE: IPSOS | GRAPHIC: EDMUND TADROS, LES HEWITT Labor takes the lead in election cliffhanger Labor has moved ahead of the Coalition for the first time since Malcolm Turnbull became PM Primary vote Labor's primary vote is at its highest since Malcolm Turnbull became PM Turnbull’s preferred PM rating has increased for the first time since November Turnbull's approval rating continues to fall while Shorten's has steadied NB: May not sum due to rounding