SYDNEY, Australia — Prime Minister Tony Abbott, struggling to keep unhappy political allies from toppling him, said on Monday that he would abandon some costly and unpopular policies and refocus his attention on the economy.

Mr. Abbott, who leads a coalition of Liberal and National Party members, has been in office less than two years, and the next national election is not due before October 2016. But the conservative coalition took a beating in a state election in Queensland over the weekend. A series of missteps and setbacks have dented Mr. Abbott’s popularity so badly that his party’s state candidates there asked him not to campaign with them.

In a speech at the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday, Mr. Abbott said the Queensland election delivered “lessons for us all.” As he reset his policy agenda, he said he would consult with his party colleagues more often, rather than make major decisions on his own.

“These are testing times for our country,” Mr. Abbott said, mentioning slowing economic growth among Australia’s trading partners and rising government debt. “Building a stronger economy is the fairest thing we can do, because it means more jobs, higher wages and more government revenue to pay for the services we need.”