The latest Ipsos poll points to an electoral wipeout for the Coalition, despite Scott Morrison being the more preferred prime minister.

The poll, commissioned by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and released on Sunday night shows Labor leading 53-47 on a two-party preferred basis.

If the results, which have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 per cent, were replicated in a uniform swing, Labor would win 83 seats in the 151-seat lower house.

The poll also suggested Mr Morrison remains the preferred prime minister, with 46 per cent of those polled liking him compared with 35 per cent choosing Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

Almost one in five voters was undecided.

Mr Morrison had been expected to go to the Governor-General at the weekend to initiate a May 11 election, but decided against the idea.

The prompted Labor to accuse the Prime Minister of pushing back the election date so the cash-strapped Coalition parties can exploit taxpayer-funded advertising.

“This government wants to spend tens of millions of dollars on TV advertising to pump up their own tyres,” Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

“That’s why they’re buying time, so they can spend some more of Australians’ money.”

Mr Morrison shrugged off the allegation.

“Bill [Shorten] can be as frustrated and anxious and grumpy as he likes, but you know, we are running to the plan that we’ve set as a government,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

“We’re looking forward to the weeks ahead and it won’t be before too long that obviously we will go to the polls.”

He dismissed complaints about spending public money on partisan ads, saying Labor did the same thing when it was in office.

“The election will be called in April and the election will be held in May,” Mr Morrison said.

“We’re not doing this with any haste and we’re not doing it with any delay.”

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said the government needed time to sell its budget to the Australian people.

“If the opposition think they’re not going to sell their budget reply because it’s so hopeless, well that’s fine, they can try and do some other things,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“But the government gave a very good budget, and we want to make sure that the Australian people understand it.”

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese told Sky News his party was “ready for everything”.

“While the government has been fighting itself, we’ve been preparing policies and putting them forward in a constructive way.”

Delaying the election could mean that voters do not receive tax cuts included in the federal budget, which are due to take effect in July.

It is looking increasingly likely that Parliament won’t return in time to pass the necessary legislation, but the education minister is unfazed.

“We will be doing everything we can to make sure that Australians get the tax cuts that they deserve,” he said.

The Prime Minister is expected in Brisbane on Monday to address a business lunch.

Back in Canberra, the Senate is scheduled to hold a week of budget estimates, which could prove politically damaging for the government.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Tony Abbott is reportedly facing “diabolical” internal polling in his Sydney seat of Warringah, which could see him swept out of the Liberal blue ribbon seat.

-with AAP