The Prime Minister has been asked the same question 29 times in a row, but this morning's edition of Newspoll has prompted Malcolm Turnbull to launch a theatrical defence of his role as leader of the Liberal Party.

As he prepared to topple Tony Abbott as prime minister in September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull cited the loss of 30 consecutive Newspolls as a key indicator of his predecessor's failings as leader.

This morning, Mr Turnbull received his 29th successive loss in Monday's edition of The Australian newspaper, as the Coalition trails Labor 47 per cent to 53 on a two-party preferred basis.

Mr Turnbull is still ahead of Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister, holding a slender lead of 39 per cent to the Labor leader's 36 per cent.

The Prime Minister was asked about the poll during a press conference at the Australian Federal Police's training facility in Canberra, and tried to laugh it off.

REPORTER: Prime Minister, 29 Newspolls — it's not good news … TURNBULL: Why are you smiling then if it is not good news? You are so pleased. You are so pleased. I know why — because you are so happy about all of the jobs we have created, because you are not distracted by polls. You know that we have created 420,700 jobs in Australia in the last year. REPORTER: What about your job, Prime Minister? TURNBULL: And you know, you know that that's the number we are focused on. We are focused on creating opportunities for Australians. We are focused on getting taxes down. We are seeking to reduce business taxes to allow Australian businesses to invest and compete and create even more great jobs that will make you smile even more and that is what we are doing. That is our commitment.

Mr Turnbull and senior Cabinet ministers have defended the polling record, saying it was only one of the criteria used to describe successful leadership.

"Malcolm did mention, back in 2015, Newspoll, but there were a number of other things that he mentioned at that time which me and my colleagues in the party room whole heartedly agreed with," Communications Minister Mitch Fifield told the ABC's National Wrap.

"The reason why we made the change in 2015 was because we wanted to win, and every electoral outing that Malcolm Turnbull has led us on, we've won."

In recent weeks, Mr Abbott has also questioned the Coalition's polling record, demanding Mr Turnbull explain why the current circumstances are different to those of September 2015.