Coalition and Labor 50-50 in poll

The government is level pegging with the opposition as they go into campaign mode for a July 2 election, the latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll shows.

With a lead of 51-49 or 50-50 if voter preferences are taken into account, the election result cannot be predicted, Fairfax Media reported on Monday.

But 53 per cent of voters still expect the Turnbull government to survive, the poll shows.

When the 1410 respondents were asked for their second preference, in the national phone survey conducted from May 5-7, the two sides were locked together at 50-50.

Mr Turnbull remains strongly favoured by voters in the head-to-head contest, leading Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister 51-29.

The coalition's primary vote came in at 44 per cent compared to Labor on 33 per cent.

The poll also showed voters marking down the recent budget as unfair, 43 per cent to 37 per cent.