PM to have anxious wait for Bennelong poll

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces a nervous wait to learn if his government will hold on to its parliamentary majority in the Bennelong by-election.

Labor has sought to redefine Saturday's poll as a referendum on Mr Turnbull's leadership while the Liberals have worked hard to remind voters of Kristina Keneally's past life as NSW premier and her links to corrupt MPs.

A loss in Bennelong would leave the government with 75 seats in the lower house and without a majority.

"People will be casting a judgment on the government, which I lead, of course," he said on Friday.

In the final week of the campaign, there has been stunts and dirty tricks by both sides.

A Newspoll on Tuesday indicated the former sitting MP John Alexander and Ms Keneally were neck and neck while a Fairfax Media-ReachTEL poll published on Thursday put the Liberals ahead 53 to 47 on a two-party preferred basis.

The prime minister and Mr Alexander were forced to cut their Friday appearance short as a handful of young protesters arrived in a rental minibus and then bore placards authorised by the Labor party.

Earlier in the day, Ms Keneally was asked to justify why a man dressed as a chicken had confronted her Liberal opponent a day earlier holding Labor campaign material.

"I'm not sure why John Alexander chose to debate a chicken," Ms Keneally told reporters while refusing to be drawn on whether she authorised the stunt.

The former NSW premier was also asked for examples of the Liberal Party's "China-phobic" campaign in the Sydney electorate.

While failing to give specific examples, Ms Keneally said she had received feedback from the Australian-Chinese community and pointed to the government's proposed citizenship English language test.

"The local community here, community leaders, are frustrated and angry by what they see as divisive language," Ms Keneally said.

Mr Alexander started the day denying he breached parliamentary rules by not declaring rental income from a NSW property he owns. He said the allegations were "strategically targeted".

A Fairfax Media article on Friday questioned whether rental income on the property, which generates about $1440 a day when booked, should be disclosed. The article also named Labor MPs David Feeney, Brendan O'Connor and Kate Ellis who own investment properties but don't separately declare rental income.

Mr Turnbull stood by Mr Alexander, saying he "strictly complied" with the Clerk of the House's advice.

Earlier in the week, the PM admitted the Liberal Party had bought the domain name kristinakeneally.com to post criticisms about her record.

Mr Turnbull has regularly reminded voters of Ms Keneally's links to jailed ex-Labor MPs Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald and corrupt powerbroker Joe Tripodi.