CANBERRA, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has lost its 37th consecutive opinion poll, capping off a tumultuous weekend for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
According to the latest Newspoll, released on Monday, the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) leads the governing Liberal National Party (LNP) 51-49 on a two-party preferred basis.
The poll results were released just two days after the LNP suffered significant defeats in five by-elections on Saturday, four to the ALP and one to the minor Center Alliance.
Of the five losses, the LNP was considered a chance to win three of the seats but garnered a lower share of the vote than they did at the 2016 general election in all three marginal electorates.
Particularly concerning for the LNP and Turnbull ahead of the 2019 general election was the collapse of the LNP's primary vote in the Queensland seat of Longman from 39 percent in 2016 to 29.6 percent on Saturday.
If that trend was upheld across Queensland at the 2019 election the LNP would lose power in a landslide.
However, according to Newspoll the primary vote result in Longman was not consistent with the rest of the nation.
The poll found that the LNP's primary vote across the country rose to 39 percent compared to 36 percent for Labor.
Turnbull maintained a comfortable lead as the country's preferred prime minister with 48 percent of the 1,704 respondents picking him and just 29 percent choosing ALP leader Bill Shorten, the widest gap between the two since May 2016.
Despite Saturday's results ending speculation over his leadership Shorten remained widely unpopular among voters.
Monday's Newspoll represented the 70th consecutive poll where Shorten has recorded a negative net satisfaction rating, a streak spanning 1,256 days back to February 2015.
