Turnbull leads polls, gutting Labor’s election chances

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has singled out his support for public transport infrastructure when challenged to name one difference between his administration and that of his predecessor Tony Abbott.

The day after Mr Turnbull became prime minister in September he discussed with the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet how to properly comply with the ministerial code of conduct.

The mid-year review of the budget is also looming, at which the government will have to make a call on whether it is going to proceed with a lot of these decisions which are now overdue, or surrender and bring to book a budget deterioration.

Labor MP Nick Champion says the honeymoon will be over for the Turnbull government when it tackles issues that will spark internal division such as marriage equality.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten during question time on Monday.

“Can I simply say that the government’s policies are unchanged”, the PM told the House.

“It’s the same horse, just a different jockey”, he told AAP.

The coalition leads the opposition Labor party by 53 percent to 47 percent on a two-party preferred basis, reversing an eight point deficit recorded in August, according to the Fairfax-Ipsos survey.

The now rejuvenated government should flourish with many voters returning, following the outing of the unpopular Tony Abbott.

Mr Turnbull’s net approval rating of 51 per cent is well ahead of Mr Shorten’s minus 24 per cent.

In what is a clear indication of the positive leadership switch, Mr Turnbull has more than tripled Bill Shorten’s popularity as preferred prime minister at 67 per cent to Mr Shorten’s 21.

“There’s quite a long way to the next election”, Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer said.