Atomic meltdown looms as divide emerges in Coalition over nuclear policy

The matter will be on the table during the Liberal Party's post-election dissection and feature heavily in private discussions that will decide who is its next leader.

Senior Nationals parliamentarians have confirmed their support for the policy since the election, while leader David Littleproud dismissed nuclear as the reason for the Coalition's horrific loss, saying people were "trying to draw bows that are very long and not pointed in the right direction".

However, Liberal Senator for New South Wales Maria Kovacic called on her federal party room colleagues to ditch the controversial policy, citing concerns that it was a key voter turn-off, particularly with Gen Z and millennial voters who thought the Coalition was "having them on".

She said the Liberals had to "find a way" to deal with any divergence in opinion over energy with the Nationals.

"I think the result on Saturday is a pretty clear election review of what Australians think," she said.

"If we are going to go to our Liberal roots - and be the party that Robert Menzies founded - then we need to recognise that he would say this nuclear policy has to go.

"The idea that the party of free markets and small government would nationalise a major portion of the energy system is completely at odds with what we stand for."

Senator Kovacic added that the Liberals would "never govern again if we only have regional seats.".

Former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack called for a "brutal and honest" and independent post-election inquest after the "bloodbath" election result, he believes would have taken many of those who lost their seats by surprise.

Meanwhile, Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley are reportedly now the two main contenders for Liberal leader after Andrew Hastie declared he would not nominate, and Dan Tehan is believed to have been guaranteed the deputy position by both Mr Taylor and Ms Ley in exchange for his support and may step back.

Both Mr Taylor and Ms Ley are both based in regional New South Wales; the last regionally based Liberal leader was Malcolm Turnbull, who led the party from 1975 to 1983.

The party will meet no sooner than next week to decide the leadership group, given that it is waiting for several seats remaining on a knife-edge to be decided.

The Nationals will also vote on its leadership team, as required under party rules, with Mr Littleproud expected to nominate.

Mr Littleproud enjoys strong support from within the party room and may not be challenged after two-time party leader and New England MP Barnaby Joyce underwent prostate cancer surgery earlier this week.

However, there will be a new deputy leader and shadow water minister after Perin Davey lost her spot as an NSW Senator in the election.

To complicate matters, the Nationals performed much better than the Liberal Party in the election and are expected to demand a greater share of frontbench positions in a new shadow ministry.

The demands on parliamentarians to rise to the challenge of climate change become greater the deeper Australia moves into its renewable energy transition, something felt just as acutely in the regions as metropolitan areas.

The Coalition earmarked seven sites for a proposed nuclear power plant, all in Nationals seats and, while the results show some experienced a swing against them, others gained ground.

Mr Tehan ruled out Anglesea, a coastal town within his electorate of Wannon on Victoria's western coast, as a potential site for a plant last year when polling showed both a lack of local support for the infrastructure and the former minister neck-and-neck with Independent challenger Alex Dyson.

Nationals senator for Queensland Matt Canavan said on Wednesday that the party had too often followed the Liberals and that all options should be on the table, while stopping short of calling for a review of the Coalition agreement.

"We should have a louder voice. We shouldn't feel like we have to muzzle ourselves, which I think we did a bit in the last term," he said in a media interview.