The Napthine Government is headed for crushing defeat at the Victorian election in November, according to the latest Nielsen poll.

The poll of 1,000 Victorians published in The Age newspaper showed support for the Napthine Government had dropped six percentage points, leaving the Coalition trailing Labor 59 to 41 on a two-party preferred basis.

If the result was replicated at the November election the Coalition could lose up to 16 seats.

A Newspoll in The Australian had the Coalition on 46 per cent to Labor's 54, two-party preferred.

Deputy Premier Peter Ryan said the federal budget was hurting the Victorian Government.

"No doubt it's washing through us," he said.

"We understand that, it's just a fact of life. The feds have a difficult task."

Mr Ryan said the Government's poor performance in the polls should put the spotlight on the Labor Party.

"I think in their own way [the polls] are a good thing," he said.

"They will focus attention on who is this man, the alternative premier of Victoria?"

The Premier denied the polls would make some of his backbenchers nervous.

"Our backbenchers and our team are very united because we have a great budget," he said.

"There's only one poll that counts and that's on the 29th of November."

But Government backbencher Michael Gidley expressed concern.

"I think [the polls] clearly show the Liberal National coalition is the underdog for this coming election and that Labor is in the box seat," he said.

"There's always room for improvement across the team, but we're working hard, we've got another five or so months."

The Nielsen poll showed the two leaders virtually neck-and-neck in the preferred premier stakes, with Dr Napthine leading Daniel Andrews by just one percentage point.

The poll also showed Canberra was having a significant impact on the Victorian Government, with 39 per cent of those polled saying they would be less likely to vote for the Coalition because of the federal budget.

It also found support for Labor's transport agenda over the Government's.

Forty-five per cent of respondents thought Labor's plan to remove 50 of Melbourne's most dangerous level crossings should be the top priority, compared with just 20 per cent who thought the western section of the East West Link was the most important.

The polls are another big headache for the Government after weeks of controversy surrounding the suspension of Independent MP Geoff Shaw, and growing speculation about factional infighting surrounding the former premier Ted Baillieu.