(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull survived a leadership challenge brought by party colleagues dismayed by his government’s slumping poll ratings.

Turnbull defeated Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton by 48 votes to 35 in a ballot of Liberal Party lawmakers on Tuesday. Still, the dissent has weakened the prime minister and widened rifts within the government.

Turnbull, 63, has struggled for policy traction and political authority since his Liberal-National coalition retained office in 2016 by a razor-thin margin. The government has trailed the main opposition Labor party in opinion polls ever since, and with elections due by May, disquiet over Turnbull’s leadership has been growing.

His authority was wounded in the past week as several backbench lawmakers threatened to vote against a key energy policy, demanding the government provide more support for the coal industry and abandon its Paris Agreement emissions target.

The Australian dollar was little changed in early Sydney trading, fetching 73.36 U.S. cents.

Turnbull has been dogged by misfortune and missteps since the 2016 election. While he shepherded through legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry, has shrunk the budget deficit and enacted tax cuts for small businesses, other policies have been stymied in parliament.

The country has had 27 years without recession, yet the government has failed to reap a political dividend due to stagnant wages, spiraling power bills, high levels of household debt and property prices that are beyond the reach of many Australians.

The leadership turmoil is nothing new. Turnbull himself seized power by defeating Tony Abbott in a ballot of Liberal lawmakers in 2015. The previous Labor government was equally chaotic -- with first term Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ousted by his deputy Julia Gillard, only to claw his way back to the top job weeks before losing the 2013 election.

Such political dysfunction has damaged the nation’s prospects, with successive governments failing to enact reform across key areas such as energy, housing policies and taxation.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net

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