Malcolm Turnbull suffers approval rating nosedive

The government’s approval rating has fallen in the latest poll, with Labor taking a 10 point lead.

Labor leads the Coalition 55-45 on a two-party preferred basis, while support for the Greens, One Nation and Nick Xenophon Team remains steady, according to a Fairfax-Ipsos poll.

Malcolm Turnbull personal approval rating dropped to 40 per cent, but he still leads as preferred prime minister over Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

The results come just hours after Foreign Minister Julie Bishop appeared on Sky News, backing Turnbull’s efforts and saying he would lead the party to the next election.

“He’s a can-do prime minister,” she said.

“He’s got a vision for this country, he’s got a lot of issues to deal with but he’s performing strongly and he will retain the support of the vast majority of the party room in order to lead us to the next election.”

However, if an election was held at the weekend, the government would have lost 24 seats.

The results are in contrast to polls taken earlier in the year, which saw Turnbull with a strong lead of Shorten and are thought to have been affected by the imminent Federal budget.

Parliament will resume today before taking a break ahead of the May budget to finalise the details and promote the proposed changes around the country.

The Medicare rebate, childcare, welfare and corporate tax cuts are expected to play heavily on the agenda.

Who is your preferred prime minister? Do you believe the polls? What’s your biggest issue going into the budget?