The National Party could have a new leader as early as next week as Barnaby Joyce's leadership is put to a vote and the party room wrestles with its future "barking from the wilderness in opposition".
Nationals MPs and senators have been left picking over the bones of the Coalition's weekend loss, once more grappling with climate policy as Senator Matt Canavan claimed "net zero was a failed agenda".
It is custom for the junior Coalition partner to spill its leadership positions at the beginning of each new parliament.
But disquiet with Mr Joyce's leadership had been growing within the party before the election, with some MPs and senators openly canvassing a change of leader.
The Nationals held all 16 of its lower house seats at the weekend, with many of its incumbents experiencing a swing against them.
"The Nationals did not lose seats … The Nationals don't have a problem," Mr Joyce said on Monday.
"The Nationals have done an incredibly good job when the tide was running strong against us."
Emissions targets to be discussed
Mr Joyce said the party's leadership was "entirely for the room to decide" and left the door open on a potential change to the Nationals' formal support for Australia's net-zero target.
"I'm going to let the Nationals have their say in their party room in the next fortnight," Mr Joyce said.
"After an election, on all policy there is a discussion, and that's not saying you're going to drop it, or you're going to stick with it."
Mr Joyce dismissed any suggestion his party cost the Coalition seats in urban electorates, won by teal independents who likened a vote for Liberal moderates as a vote for the Nationals, who had long refused to back the net zero target.
However, Nationals Gippsland MP Darren Chester — who lost his ministry when Mr Joyce was returned as leader last year — said the Nationals needed to take "some responsibility for the Liberal losses in the city".
"It was simple and devastatingly effective to say a voter for those moderate Liberals was a vote for 'dinosaurs' in the Nationals who didn't believe in climate change," he said.
Mr Chester said that any suggestion the federal election was a great result for the Nationals was "sadly delusional and a bit like a surgeon declaring an operation was a complete success, but the patient died".
McCormack may run for leadership again
Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack is not ruling out contesting the leadership ballot when the party room meets.
"You can't deliver for regional people when you're barking from the wilderness in opposition and now, unfortunately, that's where we find ourselves. We're very much outside the tent," Mr McCormack told the ABC.
"We've got some members sitting on a knife's edge, most of us have taken a real haircut and we've lost inner-city seats where they campaigned using Barnaby's name," he said.
"There was never any campaigns in inner-city electorates using my name [when leader] or questioning my reputation or integrity."
Mr McCormack said comments by Queensland senator Matt Canavan last month that Australia's net zero emissions target was dead were a turning point in the election campaign.
He said Senator Canavan's comments gave "ammunition" to teal candidates.
Nationals MP Pat Conaghan said Mr Canavan's comments "did a great deal of damage" in his NSW seat of Cowper.
Other party room members have told the ABC there was "no need to talk about net zero at all".
Senator stands firm against net zero
However, on Monday, Senator Canavan doubled-down on his comments about net zero.
"I'm not going to apologise for saying the truth, net zero is a failed agenda," he said.
"It's clearly failed around the world that European countries are already moving away from it."
Senator Canavan — a close confidant of Mr Joyce — said the party room would determine who was best to lead the party.
The Nationals' partnership with Liberals will also be up for discussion when the party room meets.
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham on Sunday called on the Nationals to "look at where the Liberal party has felt this pain and reflect upon how it can work together to form a majority government".
The ABC spoke to several members of the Nationals party room after the election, and none said they thought the party should call off the Coalition agreement.
