Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has no plans to campaign in Western Australia before next Saturday's state election as Liberal premier Colin Barnett faces the fight of his political life to hold on to power.
A ReachTELÂ poll commissioned by Fairfax Media last week showed Labor ahead 52 per cent to 48 per cent in the two-party preferred vote though it still faces a challenge to win the 10 seats required to form government.Â
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Liberals' popularity drops in latest poll
Malcolm Turnbull lashes out blaming Tony Abbott for deliberately trying to hurt his government with a series of well timed pot shots.
Despite state issues dominating the campaign, a loss for the Liberals would be another blow for Mr Turnbull who is trailing in the polls and leads an increasingly divided federal party room.Â
Mr Turnbull has visited Western Australia just once during the state election campaign, in a poorly received trip that lasted less than 24 hours.
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One WA Liberal, who described Mr Turnbull's February visit as a "disaster", said the state party was happy for the prime minister to stay away.
Local paper The West Australian described Mr Turnbull's visit as a "damp squib" that showed he was "hopelessly unprepared, atrociously briefed or both" on the potent issue of GST distribution. Â
After pledging last August to establish a floor in GST distribution to stop states such as WA missing out, Mr Turnbull disappointed state Liberals in his most recent visit by saying that any change was "a few years away".
The comments embarrassed Mr Barnett, who had said he expected details from Mr Turnbull on what the floor would be.
Mr Turnbull also faced hostile interviews on local radio during the visit.
Mr Turnbull missed the WA Liberal campaign launch because he was attending commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin.
The Prime Minister is travelling to Indonesia over the weekend but will be back in Australia by mid-week.
Government sources said Mr Turnbull did not plan to return to WA although his plans could change at the last minute.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will visit WA to campaign alongside state Labor leader Mark McGowan, probably late in the week.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who is hoping for a strong result, is expected to campaign in WA in the lead-up to polling day.Â
Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop, who is from WA, campaigned with Mr Barnett on Saturday but will be travelling overseas until election day.
Labor sources said the party hoped its campaign against the Fair Work Commission's decision to reduce Sunday penalty rates would help win back support from blue-collar voters who may have been toying with a vote for One Nation.
The ReachTEL poll showed One Nation, which has done a preference deal with the Liberals, would get only 8.5 per cent of the WA primary vote – far lower than had been expected.
Several One Nation candidates have been embroiled in controversy during the campaign and two candidates were recently dumped.
Respondents to the ReachTEL poll named cost of living their most important issue followed by unemployment, transport infrastructure and the privatisation of power assets.