Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has received his worst ever approval rating, despite support for the ALP hitting a four-month high, according to the latest Newspoll published in The Australian.

Tony Abbott is again the preferred prime minister, while Mr Shorten, after a tumultuous fortnight which saw him fronting the Royal Commission into union corruption, has dropped to a record low of 27 per cent.

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Just becuase Mr Shorten’s suffering it doesn’t mean Mr Abbott’s firing. They both command stunning dissatisfaction with voters. Photo: Getty

Mr Abbott’s rating is 12 percentage points higher at 39 per cent. Mr Shorten’s one per cent dip to the record low level, comes only days before his first ALP National Conference as leader.

Dissatisfaction with Mr Shorten rose three points to another record level of 59 per cent. He’s still one per cent behind Mr Abbott, whose dissatisfaction rate is 60 per cent.

Mr Shorten’s net satisfaction rating (the difference between those satisfied and those not) is minus 32 percentage points, while Mr Abbott’s is minus 26 percentage points.

However federal Labor extended its two-party preferred lead by two percentage points over the last fortnight.

Mr Shorten’s opposition lead the Liberals 53 per cent to 47 per cent signalling that support for the Coalition remains lukewarm after its post-budget surge.

In the primary vote, the Coalition steadied on 40 per cent. Labor rose for the second consecutive polling period to a four-month high of 39 per cent.

Support for the Greens fell one point to 12 per cent while for other parties and independents there was also a one point drop to nine per cent.

– with AAP