By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has extended his lead as country’s preferred leader, but his government may still lose next month’s federal election, a poll revealed on Monday.

The Newspoll for The Australian newspaper revealed that Morrison gained a point at 44% while Anthony Albanese, opposition leader, fell 3 points to 39%. This is the biggest lead Morrison has had over his opponent since February.

Morrison announced that Australia would hold general elections on May 21st. This will trigger a campaign over climate change, cost-of living pressures and trust issues.

Even though Morrison’s personal rating remained stable, the Liberal National Party coalition’s conservative Liberal could lose 10 seats to Albanese’s centreleft Labor. This would result in the election to Albanese, who leads 53-47 on the two-party preferred basis. In the lower house, Morrison’s government holds a 1 seat majority.

Another survey was done by the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday and predicted that the ruling coalition would lose at most 14 seats, including those deemed to be safe in the resource-rich Queensland or Western Australia states.

Labor may return to power for a second time in 2013 if it wins key electorates. Morrison could launch his election campaign starting from Gilmore, a marginal seat. He will then spend six weeks driving before the vote.

Morrison, who spoke at a press briefing Monday about the election, said that it was “about a choice” and called Albanese’s leadership “untested or unknown”.

It’s an option between strong economic management or strong financial management… This contrasts with a Labor Opposition that Australians already know cannot be trusted to manage their money.

Albanese rejected Morrison’s accusations about his experiences as a leader, declaring that he was “ready and able to govern”.

Albanese said that the government was only focused on cost of living up to the election.