THE week of unrest and infighting that marked the federal opposition's return to Parliament has had no impact on voters, with a new poll showing the Coalition holding a thumping election-winning lead over Labor.
The latest Herald/Nielsen poll shows the Coalition leading Labor on a two-party preferred basis by 54 per cent to 46 per cent, a swing of 4 per cent since the August election.
On a primary basis, only one-third of voters would select Labor as their first choice if an election were held now. The Coalition leads Labor on the primary vote by 46 per cent to 32 per cent while the Greens are at a relatively steady 12 per cent. Since the election, this represents a two-point increase to the Coalition and a six-point fall for Labor.
There is good news for the government with the poll showing the proposed flood levy has majority support with 52 per cent for the one-off tax increase and 44 per cent against.
Also, support for putting a price on carbon, a policy priority for the government this year, is holding up. The poll finds 46 per cent support a carbon price and 44 per cent oppose it. These figures are unchanged since the question was asked in October last year.
Julia Gillard was adjudged to perform better than Tony Abbott during the summer of national disasters.
The national phone poll of 1400 voters was conducted from Thursday evening to Saturday evening. This period included an outbreak of infighting among senior levels in the Coalition, caused by proposed cuts to the foreign aid budget. This involved heated clashes between the deputy leader, Julie Bishop, and Mr Abbott, and talk of a move against Ms Bishop by the frontbencher Andrew Robb.
Also, Mr Abbott was embroiled in the ''shit happens'' affair, a term he used when accepting the circumstances of a soldier's death in Afghanistan.
The government was regarded as having won the week with strong performances by the Prime Minister and there had been some anticipation of a small rise in support for Labor in today's poll.
Despite the Coalition's ascendant poll position, tensions at senior levels remain strong.
It is understood Mr Robb rang both Mr Abbott and the shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, yesterday, to assure them he was not engaged in internal destabilisation following a Sunday newspaper interview to promote his new book.
The report said he had told Mr Hockey he wanted his job but Mr Robb said this was an old conversation the pair had had before the election.
The poll shows Ms Gillard continues to outpace Mr Abbott in the personal stakes.
The Prime Minister's approval rating was 52 per cent, a two-point drop since the previous poll in November last year, and her disapproval rating rose 4 points to 43 per cent.
The Opposition Leader's approval rating fell one point to 46 per cent and his disapproval rose one point to 49 per cent.
Ms Gillard leads Mr Abbott as preferred prime minister by 51 per cent to 41 per cent. The poll shows Labor doing especially poorly in Queensland, Western Australia and NSW.
In NSW, the Coalition leads Labor by 48 per cent to 31 per cent on the primary vote.
The Nielsen pollster John Stirton said NSW was tough for the federal government because the ''extremely unpopular'' state Labor government was campaigning for re-election on March 26.
''As NSW voters consider the performance of the state Labor government, they may be less likely to support Labor nationally,'' Mr Stirton said.
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