CANBERRA, Oct.19 (Xinhua) -- Australian voters are swinging drastically back in favor of the government, after a new poll revealed that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was three times as popular as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as the nation's preferred Prime Minister.
The Fairfax-Ipsos poll, published in Fairfax newspapers on Monday, revealed Turnbull's decision to challenge for the nation's leadership last month had been vindicated, with the Prime Minister now holding a 67 per cent approval rating to Bill Shorten's 21 per cent.
Shorten has fallen 24 points since August, when he led the race as preferred Prime Minister against former PM Tony Abbott.
Since overthrowing Abbott as Prime Minister back in September, Turnbull has also led a drastic party turnaround; the coalition is now ahead of Labor in the two-party preferred poll for the first time since March 2014, leading 53 per cent to 47 per cent.
Following the poll's results, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that last week's "shabby" attempt by Labor to lower the Prime Minister's popularity had backfired.
On Friday, Labor Senator Sam Dastyari led an attack which focused on Turnbull's offshore holding accounts in the Cayman Islands, with Dastyari labeling the legality of his investments as "questionable".
But speaking to Sky News on Monday, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the Australian people have put their faith in Malcolm Turnbull,the leader and not a man that "has too much money ".
"I don't think people want to hear ... a suggestion that they shouldn't have faith in this man because he has too much money," Birmingham said.
"I think they want to put faith in him because he's been successful and because they hope he can translate that success to the nation."
The results of the poll indicate the coalition would likely retain government if an election was called.
