By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull secured the passage of some cornerstone legislation on Wednesday but quickly suffered an embarrassing defeat of a government plan for a lower "backpacker tax" on work done by young, foreign visitors. Turnbull, facing pressure over a slump in his standing in opinion polls, was able to secure the passage of a law setting up a building-industry regulator after he struck a deal with independent senators. The prime minister has pinned his political fortunes to the introduction of a building-industry regulator, using the Senate's rejection of earlier such legislation as a trigger to call an election in July, when he secured a narrow victory.
