Poll: Australian government faces backlash in by-election

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's beleaguered prime minister faces a political test next month with an opinion poll on Tuesday showing his center-right party faces a large swing against it in a by-election in the nation's most conservative state.

A poll by Sydney-based market researcher Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday shows that Abbott's Liberal Party could lose a by-election on Sept. 19 in Western Australia state despite winning the 2013 election in the district of Canning by an 11.8 percentage point margin.

The government has trailed the opposition in a range of opinion polls since April last year, and Abbott survived a leadership challenge from within his party in February prompted by poor opinion polling and what some say were questionable judgments he made.